Including Infants: An Inter-Agency Model for Parent–Infant Mental Health and Well-Being in Rural Regions

There are well-recognised and articulated difficulties in the provision of health services to communities in rural and remote areas. These difficulties encompass practicalities and geography, economics and politics, as well as the personal and professional. This article describes a multi-level model developed by a group of regional services to address the mental health and well-being needs of infants and small children of rural and remote families, utilising existing resources creatively and collaboratively. The model draws on understandings from attachment theory about the nature and needs of humans as relational beings.