17th IACAPAP Lunch & Learn Webinar

Topic: Is the ‘sensitive mother’ the same the world over? Developing culturally sound infant mental health practice 

Quand ? Mercredi 8 mai 2024 à midi

Où ? Séminaire en ligne

Variations exist in the way parents care for their children. Parenting styles are informed by the social, cultural and economic context in which families live. While this is obvious and well known, much of infant mental health theory is derived from the Western world, which represents less than 10% of the world’s children. Thus, effective, and evidence-informed infant mental health practice in Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) necessitates local research into the constructs pertaining to infant mental health. 
 
This webinar will outline three South African research projects which investigated infant mental health concepts. The notions of sensitive mothering, the impact of mental illness on reflective functioning and the paradigm of shared pleasure will be described. It will go on to outline several locally developed and locally adapted infant mental health interventions that have been informed by this research. The integration of indigenous knowledge has further enriched these interventions. While this research was done in South Africa, the findings may well apply to other parts of the world.

Intervenant-e-s : Emerita A/Prof Astrid Berg (University of Cape Town, A/Prof Extraordinary, University of Stellenbosch, President-Elect World Association for Infant Mental Health)