The Prevalence and Nature of Barriers to Child Mental Health Treatment

 

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has established the National Quality Strategy to promote the alignment of financial incentives with the development and implementation of effective care processes. One of the key components of the strategy is to identify and address potential barriers to child mental health treatment for families in need.

However, the literature suggests that there are many factors that can inhibit low-income families from receiving appropriate treatment. Identifying and addressing these barriers can help to close the gap between need and access to services. Several studies have been conducted to assess the prevalence and nature of barriers to treatment, with a focus on the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and treatment use.
 
A systematic review found that 14-75% of parents reported experiencing barriers to child mental health treatment. These barriers included lack of information about services, lack of knowledge about child mental health problems, fear of being viewed as a bad parent, and stigma. Parents also worried about the effect of their child's mental health problems on their future employment. It is important to understand the factors that contribute to barriers to child mental health treatment in order to make informed decisions about service delivery.
 
An interview based on the Children's Service Interview is an excellent tool for assessing the perceived barriers to treatment of children and adolescents with mental health disorders. This approach has been shown to be moderately valid and reliable in a clinical sample. During the interview, the parents are asked about their concerns regarding their child's mental health condition. They are then asked to indicate specific barriers to treatment. For example, if a parent has a concern about not knowing where to seek help, the interviewer will ask about other people's opinions.
 
Another tool used to assess the prevalence and nature of barriers to child mental health treatment is the Kazdin Barriers to Treatment Participation Scale. The  Meridian Adolescent Services health treatment includes healthcare, educational, and social services. The measure is used in over a third of studies and has been shown to be valid and reliable. There are few studies that have evaluated subscales of the measure.
 
DHCS agency partners prioritize the use of measures with quantitative scores. In addition, these agencies have established priority lists of measures for use by children 5-16 years of age. DHCS agency partners also have identified emotional and behavioral health measures as being of high priority. Adolescent Care partners have prioritized the use of these measures because they have demonstrated the ability to assess the severity of a child's problem and provide meaningful clinical outcomes. Moreover, DHCS agency partners have developed a National Quality Strategy that links recommended care processes to clinically meaningful outcomes.
 
Many standardized measures are available to track the effectiveness of child mental health treatments. However, they are not uniformly implemented across different types of services. Therefore, it is essential to choose measures with proven validity and reliability. Check out this company website that has expounded more on this topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent_health.
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