A psychosocial assessment and management tool for children and youth in crisis

CLINICIAN’S CAPSULEWhat is known about the topic?Emergency clinicians are not specifically trained to assess and manage mental health emergencies; thus, they have wide practice variation while determining disposition for children with mental health crises.What did this study ask?What is the inter-user reliability of a new emergency psychosocial assessment and management guiding tool, HEARTSMAP, and the impact of implementing it in a pediatric emergency department?What did this study find?The tool demonstrated strong inter-rater reliability between PED clinicians and was associated with high rates of outpatient resource connectivity.Why does this study matter to clinicians?HEARTSMAP can provide emergency clinicians with reliable and comprehensive assessment and management strategies for youth presenting with mental health-related concerns