Attachment: Mental health of carers of young children in remote Indigenous communities: Implications for housing programs
Introduction
We investigated the association between the mental health of carers and the quality of housing and the community environment in order to determine how building programs can more effectively promote child health.
Methods
We interviewed carers (n=358) of young children and conducted surveys of community and household infrastructure and hygienic condition before and after the implementation of building and maintenance programs in ten communities in the Northern Territory. Measures of carers mental health included the affect balance scale (a measure of general mental wellbeing) and a brief screen for depression.
Results
Carers’ financial security and conditions of the wider community environment emerged as key factors independently associated with both general mental wellbeing and risk of depression. Aspects of the general community environment which appear to be important include perceived community safety, general environmental health and availability of community facilities. Inadequate social support and the number of negative life events reported by carers were also associated with their general mental wellbeing. Neither carers’ general mental wellbeing nor risk of depression nor the number of reported negative life events were independently associated with the functional or hygienic state of their houses.
Conclusions
Factors in the wider social and physical environment of these communities appear to have the strongest influence on the mental health of the carers of young children – ahead of the physical condition of individual houses. There is a need to better understand how building and other programs can impact more positively on the mental health of carers.
How were Indigenous people involved and how was permission sought?
Participation agreements describing the research process and reporting of findings back to communities and to wider audiences were negotiated with community councils and housing organisations of all communities involved. All houses surveyed and interviews conducted were subject to informed consent of the householder and other interviewees. The core research team included an Indigenous man with wide experience of community housing and governance. We employed local community residents to assist research teams with field work. We provided verbal and written reports on the research findings for each community to the community council and housing office.