title: 'Canaries in the mine'. Parents of adult children with schizophrenia: An integrative review of the literature.
abstract: The purpose of this integrative review was to evaluate the current state of knowledge of parents who have adult children diagnosed with schizophrenia and their relationship with mental health professionals. Findings indicated that parents (primarily mothers) believed they intuitively knew when their adult children were becoming unwell and that they doggedly pursued connections with mental health care providers. Five themes were evident in the literature: trusting your instincts, feeling dismissed and devalued, making connections and making concessions, living with distress and sorrow, and becoming your own health-care provider. The implications of the findings on mental health nursing practice indicate that professional family relationships were not ideal, and that parents wanted to improve these relationships. Parents wanted health-care professionals to respond to their requests for help for both their children and for themselves, and wanted to be able to help the mental health team to help their adult children.
authors.affiliation: School of Health, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klages
authors.affiliation: School of Health, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Usher
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D000066505:Help-Seeking Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
keywords: adult children; mental health nurse; parent; professional-family relation; schizophrenia