Unmet Parental Mental Health Service Needs in Neonatal Follow-Up Programs: Parent and Service Provider Perspectives

Shayna K Pierce; Kristin A Reynolds; Lorna S Jakobson; M Florencia Ricci; Leslie E Roos

doi:10.3390/children10071174

Unmet Parental Mental Health Service Needs in Neonatal Follow-Up Programs: Parent and Service Provider Perspectives

Children (Basel). 2023 Jul 6;10(7):1174. doi: 10.3390/children10071174.

Authors

Shayna K Pierce¹, Kristin A Reynolds^{1

2

3}, Lorna S Jakobson¹, M Florencia Ricci^{3

4

5}, Leslie E Roos^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3N4, Canada.
³ Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3A 1S1, Canada.
⁵ Manitoba Neonatal Follow-Up Program, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3G1, Canada.

Abstract

Parental mental health services in neonatal follow-up programs (NFUPs) are lacking though needed. This study aimed to determine (1) the unmet mental health needs of parents and (2) the parent and provider perspectives on barriers and opportunities to increase mental health service access. Study 1: Parents in a central Canadian NFUP (N = 49) completed a mixed-method online survey (analyzed descriptively and by content analysis) to elucidate their mental health, related service use, barriers to service use, and service preferences. Study 2: Virtual focus groups with NFUP service providers (N = 5) were run to inform service improvements (analyzed by reflexive thematic analysis). The results show that parents endorsed a 2-4 times higher prevalence of clinically significant depression (59.2%), anxiety (51.0%), and PTSD (26.5%) than the general postpartum population. Most parents were not using mental health services (55.1%) due to resource insecurity among parents (e.g., time, cost) and the organization (e.g., staffing, training, referrals). Consolidating parents' and service providers' perspectives revealed four opportunities for service improvements: bridging services, mental health screening, online psychoeducation, and peer support. Findings clarify how a central Canadian NFUP can address parental mental health in ways that are desired by parents and feasible for service providers.

Keywords: mental health service use; mixed-methods; neonatal follow-up program; parents of high-risk infants; service provider perspectives; service use barriers.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by scholarships from the Canadian Institute for Health Research and the University of Manitoba (to S.K.P.). The University of Manitoba and the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba operating grant (OG2021-08) awarded to L.E.R. provided financial support for the project, including data collection, personnelle, and open access publishing.