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Abstract
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During the last 40 years, studies have proved a strong association between parental psychiatric disorder and increase of psychiatric risk in their children. This transmission is influenced by the way parents interact with their children and by a lower level of parental competencies, with dysfunctional interactions. In several countries in Europe, USA and Australia, prevention programs for children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI) have been developed , being considered of high priority in public mental health policy. Semente Project, developed by Psychiatric Department of Fernando Fonseca Hospital, intends to implement a mental health promotion and prevention program in this vulnerable population, aiming at early identification of psychiatric symptoms in COPMI and intervening in the reduction of psycho-social risk factors which mediate the transgenerational transmission of psychopatology, together with the promotion of protective factors at different levels: in children, in the parents with mental illness and in the family. This population has an easy access to the professionals from our service through their parents, which are our patients. The specific intervention program designed includes psycho-educational interventions within families and group interventions with children and adolescents, with main focus in decreasing family dysfunction and reinforce parental competencies, child support network and children’s competencies. Among these programs we highlight Child Talk Program, an intervention that intends to facilitate communication and comprehension about mental illness and its impact on children and families, to improve the quality of parents-child interactions and reinforce the coping skills of children. We’ll reflect about the experience working with the whole COPMI family, reinforcing patients and their children skills, increasing protective factors and integrating Child Talk Program as a standard intervention in our Department.
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