ABSTRACT
Parent/carer participation is an area often overlooked when considering participation in children and young people’s mental health services. But it is the parent or carer that spends the most time with the child and so their involvement in their care is critical. Their involvement in service development can also help services grow to better cater to the needs of parents and carers. This chapter explores the above. It begins with the stories of our authors, who are parent/carer ‘experts by experience’. It then discusses how we can better do parent/carer participation, with practical advice and guidance for services and those working within them, by proposing a model for parent/carer participation – whereby a parent must feel supported before participation can begin.
