Back to Search
Start Over
Youth mental health-related presentations at a quaternary centre: Who comes, What are their needs, and Can we meet their needs.
- Source :
-
Paediatrics & Child Health (1205-7088) . Jun2022, Vol. 27 Issue 3, p147-153. 7p. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Background Mental health issues are increasingly prevalent across Canada, reflected in rising presentations to emergency departments. To effectively address the needs of children and youth seeking mental health-related care in the emergency department and to judiciously use scarce mental health-related resources, we need to better identify the specific areas of psychosocial needs and accessibility of associated services. Objective To describe the types and severity of paediatric mental health-related presentations evaluated at a quaternary paediatric emergency department, and to explore the accessibility of community mental health-related resources. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children and youth presenting to a quaternary paediatric emergency department who were assessed using HEARTSMAP, a validated mental health assessment and management tool. We reported the proportion who sought care for a psychiatric, social, or youth health-related mental health complaint. We contacted community mental health-related resources for their estimated wait times to determine accessibility. Results Of 1,530 paediatric emergency presentations, 98.8% of patients had psychiatric issues (40.1% were severe), 78.0% of patients had social issues (17.1% were severe), and 71.5% had youth health issues (18.1% were severe). We contacted 123 community mental health-related resources. Community youth health and social services were somewhat accessible, with 50.0% and 38.7%, respectively, able to intake youth within a week of referral. Community psychiatric programs were least accessible, with 59.3% having wait times greater than 1 month. Conclusions Many psychiatric concerns presenting in paediatric emergency departments have complex psychosocial challenges requiring non-psychiatric support. A need exists for improved accessibility to community psychiatric programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *HEALTH services accessibility
*HOSPITAL emergency services
*EMERGENCY services in psychiatric hospitals
*PEDIATRICS
*RETROSPECTIVE studies
*ACQUISITION of data
*SEVERITY of illness index
*CHILD psychopathology
*MEDICAL records
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*MEDICAL referrals
*NEEDS assessment
*LONGITUDINAL method
*EVALUATION
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 12057088
- Volume :
- 27
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Paediatrics & Child Health (1205-7088)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 157527825
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxab091