Exploring the Presenting Problems and Services Received by Youth with Diverse Mental Health Presentations in Integrated Youth Mental Health Services Across Canada

TL;DR

This study examines the mental health problems and services received by youth in Canada's integrated mental health care programs, highlighting the need for standardized care.

Contribution

The study provides a detailed analysis of youth mental health service delivery variability in Canada's integrated care model.

Findings

Most youth presented with moderate-severe mental health issues and moderate-to-significant functional difficulties.

A majority of youth received only a single service following intake.

Service type documentation was most lacking for youth with less severe presentations.

Abstract

Integrated youth mental health (YMH) primary care initiatives have the potential to improve Canada’s treatment gap. However, there is no current standard for implementing these services, and offerings vary greatly across models and sites. This has equity implications for the care received by youth with severe presentations.

We describe the provider-rated problems with which 2995 youth presented to ACCESS Open Minds, a multi-site, Canadian YMH integrated care initiative and the services they received, based on the severity of their needs at intake.

The largest proportion of youth had both moderate-severe presentations and moderate-to-significant difficulties in functioning (41.67%). The first instance of receiving services following intake for most participants (71.42%) entailed a single service. The highest proportion of youth for whom the type of service received was not documented was those who presented with neither moderate-severe presentations nor poor functioning (15.01%). There was substantial variability in services provided across sites.

Variability in service delivery confirms the need for greater standardization of core service offerings across sites. Future research should assess the appropriateness of services for different presentations to ensure equitable support is provided for all youth.