Parent information evenings: filling a gap in Irish child and adolescent mental health services?

It is estimated that 20% of children experience psychological problems at any one time. 1 Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Ireland are under-resourced. Recent economic downturn has hindered the possibility of increased funding to alleviative these deficits. It is now imperative that mental health professionals create innovative and cost effective solutions to promote positive mental health. Recent literature has focused on the benefits of self delivered parenting programmes, with minimal costs incurred. 2,3 Based on the developing evidence supporting self directed approaches, the Lucena Foundation has initiated a series of parent information evenings. These evenings are offered on a monthly basis, and are free to attend. To date 1,538 parents have attended. Feedback from parents has been very positive with 80.5% of them finding them ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’. Further longitudinal research into these initiatives is required to examine possible long term effects on subsequent mental health outcomes.