My parent is in hospital

As part of our Think Family initiative we have developed a set of leaflets for children whose parents are admitted to a mental health ward. These leaflets are free to use by individuals, agencies, or professional groups such as social services and schools.

About the booklets

These booklets originated from the Friends and Family Clinic, on Nelson Ward, in Lambeth Hospital. They identifyed a need to support those looking after the children of mothers admitted to the unit - often under traumatic circumstances for the child.

The team wanted a way to help carers, often extended family members, start conversations with children about why their mother had been taken to hospital, through providing age-appropriate written information for the carers to use.

When Reay House library helped with an extensive search and found no suitable literature for children in this specific situation, a Quality Improvement project was launched.

Draft information leaflets for three age ranges were piloted with patients, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service colleagues, children, families, social services, teachers and young carers at Our Time, a charity which supports young carers of parents with mental illness.

The leaflets have undergone several cycles of revision following feedback from different groups to reach the final versions.

Please note: The leaflets should be printed in booklet format.