How to Improve Your Foster Child’s Mental Health
In the UK, a child being cared for by their local authority is known as a ‘looked after’ child. These children might be living in a children’s home, with foster carers, or there may be an arrangement where the child stays with a family member. Invariably, whatever the underlying reasons for a young person becoming a looked-after child, foster children’s mental health will be a cause for concern for all involved in the arrangements.
There are currently 102,000 looked-after children in the UK. These children get taken into care for a variety of reasons. Their parents may have been struggling to cope, perhaps because of disability or illness, or they could be in care because of a family breakdown. However, these are not the only reasons children end up in care. In fact, research suggests that the main reason is to protect them from neglect or abuse.
Evidence suggests that almost all children in the care system, particularly those who have experienced neglect or abuse, struggle with their mental health in one way or another. Unfortunately, this puts many people off fostering as they worry they will be unable to support their foster children.
The good news is that there are lots of simple things foster parents can do to improve a foster child’s mental health. If you’re a foster parent who wants to improve your foster child’s mental health, then here are some of our top tips to help you:
Build Trust with Your Foster Child
As mentioned above, many people avoid fostering children as they worry that they do not have the necessary qualifications or experience to help them deal with any issues they face. However, thankfully, you don’t need a degree to help a looked-after child. Research suggests that one of the best ways you can help a looked-after child improve their mental health is to build a solid relationship with them.
Solid relationships start with trust. But how do you build trust with a foster child? It’s pretty simple, really; you need to meet your foster child’s emotional and physical needs by caring for them when they’re hot, cold, hungry, thirsty, scared, sad or anxious. If you want to learn more, visit fosterplus.co.uk.
Be Consistent
Another excellent tip for foster parents who want to improve their foster child’s mental health is to be consistent. For example, foster children like to know what privileges they will receive for good behaviour and what will happen if they break the house rules.
Teach Stress Management
While almost all children have experienced stress in their lives, children in care have usually experienced more than most. Because of this, teaching your foster children how to deal with stress healthily is essential.
You should help your foster child personalise their stress-relief activities. While one child might want to call a friend when upset, another might prefer to write in a journal. So, work with them to find out which activities work best for them.
Establish Healthy Habits
A good night’s sleep, a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise aren’t just good for your foster child’s physical health; they can also help improve their mental health. There are even certain foods that can help relieve anxiety
Improve Self-Esteem
Many looked-after children struggle with their self-esteem. Thankfully, boosting self-esteem isn’t as tricky as it sounds. You simply need to give your foster children genuine, realistic praise when they do something well, allow them to be independent, and help them develop positive self-talk.
Almost all children and young people in the care system will have experienced a considerable amount of trauma in their lives. This could be ongoing abuse, sustained neglect, violence or even the death of a parent. So, it’s not surprising that this group of individuals is at greater risk of developing a mental health condition. While this may be true, there are many things foster parents can do to help their foster children overcome their mental health issues. If you’re a foster parent, why not try out some of the advice we’ve listed above?