Developing a shared research agenda for working with families where a parent has a mental illness

The purpose of this paper is to identify a shared, international and inter-disciplinary research agenda amongst practitioners, researchers and administrators, in relation to families where a parent has a mental illness. Fifty-seven participants, identified as key informants were invited to respond to the following query: “What key research question(s) do you want answered that if answered would help to significantly improve services to families where a parent has a mental illness?” 144 responses were qualitatively analyzed by three members of the research team. In order of frequency, the resulting research agendas were: (i) service re-orientation, (ii) interventions (iii) risk and protective factors, (iv) parent, child and family feedback and involvement, (v) stigma and (vi) reach and access. Overall, this study provides an indication of priority research areas, which according to stakeholders are most in need of investigation.