Working perinatally to change intergenerational pathways: Approaches to early intervention and prevention are vital to clinicians and government policy

Abstract

Background: Perinatal mental health is fundamental to mental and physical health outcomes throughout life. Government policies underpin good perinatal mental health as does the clinician's understanding of bio-psychosociocultural causation and management. The symposium focuses on cultural underpinnings of perinatal issues and moves to a practical understanding of advances in therapies for perinatal women. Intervening with this population promotes mental health. Increasing the knowledge of psychiatrists in this area is vital to clinical practice and to informing policy at government levels. Objectives: To bring together multicultural speakers from perinatal and infant psychiatry to inform about policy, advocacy and therapies that have intergenerational consequences; To describe interventions to interrupt these cycles; To move toward proposed systemic/ government changes which further aids the above; To ensure governmental programs that previously identified postnatal depression, anxiety and intimate partner violence move toward identification, education and treatment pathways for the whole gamut of mental health issues in families, including the effects on infants. Methods: Four presenters will summarise recent findings about approaches that benefit the understanding of perinatal families and discuss proposals for future policies. Findings: Solid evidence exists that intervention in the perinatal period, which includes infants, returns significant gains for families and society. The existing programs can be expanded to include treatment of a range of mental health issues. Group programs show promise. Conclusions: Expertise exists in psychiatry to intervene early and effectively in perinatal families by identifying illness within cultural norms, educating a wider range of primary care practitioners, providing targeted care and influencing government policy.L6116370232016-08-16 <br />