Support for families with a mentally ill parent Which forms of help do mentally ill parents utilize and which would they like to have?

Background: In Germany different offers of social support are available for families that are provided by different sectors, e.g., the youth welfare and the healthcare systems.Objective: Documentation of the utilized help, child-related factors that are associated with the utilization and the parental desires for support.Material and methods: Survey of 160 parents undergoing (partial) inpatient treatment in psychiatric hospitals via an oral interview using standardized and semi-standardized instruments.Results: The results show that nonprofessional help by family and friends as well as support offers provided by the healthcare system are used most frequently. Families that perceived their children as more burdened receive more help than families with children judged as being less burdened. There are regional differences especially in the utilization of high-threshold help by the healthcare system.Discussion: Support offers seem to reach families with mental illnesses, especially those that are particularly burdened; however, there are regional differences regarding the utilization of support as well as the wishes for specific support offers.