Many youth go to hospital emergency departments (EDs) for a variety of mental health issues. A child’s parents or caregivers are often a clinician’s main source of information about the youth, their history, and the crisis situation. In other words, caregivers’ perceptions can have a huge impact on the way clinicians administer care.
Researchers from Ontario recently investigated parental expectations of ED mental health services for youth. They administered surveys to 241 youth at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa and their caregivers. Among their findings: caregivers of youth in emergency departments are unclear about what mental health services EDs provide. They use ED services as an information centre or as a “gateway” to other mental health services, but don’t know what to specifically ask for. These findings can help clinicians to better involve the caregiver in processes that support their children.
To learn more, check out EENet’s new Research Snapshot of the article, “Pediatric Mental Health Concerns in the Emergency Department: Caregiver and Youth Perceptions and Expectations,” by Paula Cloutier, Allison Kennedy, Heather Maysenhoelder, Elizabeth J. Glennie, Mario Cappelli, and Clare Gray. The article appeared in Pediatric Emergency Care, vol. 26, no. 2: 99-106. The Snapshot is available here.
Research Snapshots are brief, clear language summaries of research articles, presented in a user-friendly format. To read EENet’s summaries of other articles, visit www.eenet.ca.