Article Text
Abstract
Background Social disadvantage is associated with problems in child development and studies have found this was largely mediated by maternal mental health (Ban et. al, 2012). In Southwark, 40% of children live in poverty and 30–40% of GP visits were mental health related. Yet, there is a shortage of mental health support services for their population even before the surge in demand triggered by Covid-19. Given this backdrop, support for parental mental health should be more distributed in the wider society, utilising preventative community approaches for mental well-being, particularly for disadvantaged parents.
Leadership intervention Combining principles of design thinking and co-production, the root causes of the problem of maternal and more broadly, parental distress, were investigated through focus group, individual interviews, clinical observations and preliminary data from primary care database. People considered to be important in the parents’ network of influence were then invited to ‘parent champions’ co-production sessions over zoom where champions were asked to co-design and co-deliver ways to better meet these needs. A total of 4 sessions were held to date with 60 champions from 13 sectors.
Outputs Interventions co-produced from the multi-sector parent champions events include expanding a computer bank for the digitally deprived, developing culturally sensitive GP video briefings to address parents’ concern about Covid-19, and building a buddy system between parent champions and social prescribers.
Process outcomes 85% of the parent champions said they would do one thing differently to support self or other parents as as result of conversations during co-production. 60% said they feel more connected and less alone in coping with the crisis through the co-production process.
Leadership learning When diverse and relevant people are involved in co-production, synergy happens, creating a higher point of leverage for wider impact.