Our history

In 2013, long-term research colleagues, Professors Kim Foster, Darryl Maybery, Andrea Reupert (Australia) and Joanne Nicholson (United States) organised the first Collaborative Meeting in Prato, Italy. Their vision established an international collaborative to advance the parental mental health research agenda. The research group is known as the International Research Collaborative for Change in Parent & Child Mental Health.

Following the 2015 meeting in Prato it was decided to expand the collaborative to engage with other International change agents (e.g. family members, parents, clinicians, service providers, policy makers and funders) with the aim of improving parental and family mental health and wellbeing across the world. As a consequence the two organisational foci include the Prato Research Collaborative who meet biannually at Prato and an expanding group of International change agents, who with the input of research evidence, seek to improve parental and family mental health internationally.