Worker, workplace or families: What influences family focused practices in adult mental health?

Introduction: Family focused practice is thought to lead to positive outcomes for all family members. However, there are multiple barriers and enablers in adult mental health services to practitioners undertaking these actions. <br/>Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of worker, workforce and family factors to predict family focused practices (FFPs) in adult mental health services. <br/>Method: Three hundred and seven adult mental health workers completed a 45 items family focused practice measure of 16 family focused practices. <br/>Thesis: It was found that worker skill and knowledge about family work and an ability to assess the degree of parental insight into the child’s connections to other family members and the community were important predictors of FFP, along with the closely related-worker confidence. While aspects of the worker, workplace and family each contribute to FFPs, this study highlighted the importance of worker skill, knowledge and confidence as central issues for adult mental health workers. <br/>Implications for practice: Study implications include the need for training in specific FFPs, the provision of time to engage with clients on parenting issues and the need 5 to ensure that there are adequate services for workers to refer family members to