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Brief Report
A description of the establishment of a new child and adolescent mental health service in the United Kingdom
Abstract
Objective: This paper describes an evaluation of a child and adolescent mental health project located in a large County in Eastern England. The project was one of eight developed in the voluntary sector and supported by the UK Mental Health Foundation as part of a national initiative aimed at responding in new, accessible ways to young people requiring help for emotional and mental health problems.
Methods: This was a mixed-method study conducted with referring agencies and service users and staff at the project using individual face to face semi-structured interviews, a focus group and postal questionnaires. Core evaluation questions were based on the UK Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) evaluation instrument for child and adolescent mental health service provision (DOH 2003a).
Results: Over the course of three years, 494 referrals were received. A total of 25% of questionnaires were returned from the referring agencies. A representative sample of clients and project staff were interviewed and audio-tape recorded. Clients reported overall satisfaction with the service provided feeling it was accessible, acceptable and appropriate. Staff enjoyed working outside statutory contexts but desired more stable funding arrangements to enable the project to expand.
Conclusions: The evidence from this study demonstrates that it is possible to establish, with careful planning, interprofessional teams who are able to integrate with primary care and specialist child and adolescent mental health staff, within the social environments of children and families to provide a more accessible and acceptable service.
Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2010, 22(1): 35–39
Methods: This was a mixed-method study conducted with referring agencies and service users and staff at the project using individual face to face semi-structured interviews, a focus group and postal questionnaires. Core evaluation questions were based on the UK Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) evaluation instrument for child and adolescent mental health service provision (DOH 2003a).
Results: Over the course of three years, 494 referrals were received. A total of 25% of questionnaires were returned from the referring agencies. A representative sample of clients and project staff were interviewed and audio-tape recorded. Clients reported overall satisfaction with the service provided feeling it was accessible, acceptable and appropriate. Staff enjoyed working outside statutory contexts but desired more stable funding arrangements to enable the project to expand.
Conclusions: The evidence from this study demonstrates that it is possible to establish, with careful planning, interprofessional teams who are able to integrate with primary care and specialist child and adolescent mental health staff, within the social environments of children and families to provide a more accessible and acceptable service.
Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2010, 22(1): 35–39
