Multi-agency Perinatal Infant Mental Health (PIMH) Training for Practitioners 23/24

Target group

This training is targeted at professionals in direct contact with children and those who undertake or contribute to risk assessments and multi-agency meetings including social workers, family support workers, foster carers, health professionals, children’s centre staff, schools, police and others who work with children at risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation.    
Level 3 (predominantly working with children) or above (including strategic leads), and NHS Inter-Collegiate Standards 2 and above for health professionals.  

Aims 

The aim of this course is to provide practitioners with the tools to:

• To understand the concept of Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, recognise most common perinatal mental disorders (CPMDs) including anxiety and depression and the care pathways to support for the mother/father/carer and child.
• To apply best practice approaches to assess, refer and manage CPMDs as effectively as possible.
• Understand the importance of good Perinatal and Infant Mental Health for the individual, family and society.
• Appreciate the importance of the parent–infant relationship.
• Improve skills and knowledge to aid assessment of the parent-infant relationship.
• To recognise the stigma associated with mental health, how it differs within the local community, and the barriers to access support for the mother and child.
• To identify and respond to early help or safeguarding concerns that relate to mental health during the perinatal period.

The training is designed to provide a mix of knowledge based content and interactive exercises which includes discussing scenarios to understand the range of interventions and help available (locally and nationally) and know when and how to access these most effectively. 

Learning objectives

By attending this course, participants will:

• Have improved knowledge about the most common clinical features and impact of perinatal mental health illness, based on recent research, to aid early recognition and help.
• Have improved knowledge about the risk factors for developing perinatal mental health illness
• Have improved knowledge of Postpartum Psychosis, including risks for developing and interventions
• Improved their understanding about the impact of stigma for the individual in relation to perinatal mental health, including the specific issues relating to diverse ethnic cultural, and religious backgrounds within the wider community.
• Have an increased understanding of fathers/partners and perinatal mental health.
• Have increased knowledge and understanding about the risks associated with perinatal mental illness related to suicide.
• Have increased knowledge and understanding about the risks associated with perinatal mental illness with regard to safeguarding infants and children
• Have improved knowledge about infant brain development
• To understand the impact of the parent-infant relationship and how it can affect the individual, child and society across the life course
• Increased knowledge  of local and national policy and research in regard to IMH
• Increase knowledge and understanding of key concepts in infant mental health
• Be able to apply some of these key concepts in practice when observing mother/father and baby interactions
• Understand the basics of attachment theory
• Have increased knowledge and understanding about the importance of effective communication and  relationships when working  with parents
• Have improved knowledge of local referral and care pathways, interventions and help available  and how to access support services as set out in the multi-agency PIMH Protocol
• Have learnt about the Sutton PIMH Early Help Network and how this works to develop services and collaborative working in Sutton. 

Special instructions

There is an expectation that practitioners would have read and familiarise themselves with the Multi-agency Perinatal Infant Mental Health protocol before attending this course, and can be downloaded on the Sutton LSCP website available on the LSCP website https://www.suttonlscp.org.uk/lscp-protocols.php