Being a parent is tough work. So too is being a parent with a mental illness.

To help those in the latter category better understand mental health information and how it relates to child rearing, experts with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities have developed a new web tool filled with information and resources.

The free, online tool helps fill what some say is a void in terms of comprehensive parenting resources tailored for those with psychiatric disabilities. The tool includes videos, quizzes and courses for parents with children in specific age ranges up to 18 years old.

“How do you talk to your child about your depression? How do you help your child cope if you get hospitalized? All these things are really important to address and a lot of people don’t know how to go about doing that,” said Katy Kaplan, CLA ’98, an investigator for the Collaborative and assistant director of research and evaluation for Community Behavioral Health.

Overcoming potential impediments to parenting assistance such as busy schedules or fears of stigmatization, the online tool can be accessed anywhere and with anonymity.

The Collaborative is based in the College of Public Health’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and was created with assistance from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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