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Leaving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS): the impact of diagnosis and medication management on optimal discharge or transition

Cathy Street (Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK)
Ellen Ni Chinseallaigh (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Ingrid Holme (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Rebecca Appleton (NIHR Mental Health Policy and Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK)
Priya Tah (Department of Education, The Rees Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK)
Helena Tuomainen (Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK)
Sophie Leijdesdorff (School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Larissa van Bodegom (Yulius Academy, Yulius Mental Health Organisation, Barendrecht, The Netherlands)
Therese van Amelsvoort (School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Tomislav Franic (Department of Psychiatry, Split Clinical Hospital Centre, Split, Croatia)
Helena Tomljenovic (Department of Psychiatry, Split Clinical Hospital Centre, Split, Croatia)
Fiona McNicholas (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland) MILESTONE Consortium

Mental Health Review Journal

ISSN: 1361-9322

Article publication date: 29 August 2023

Issue publication date: 9 November 2023

562

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how young people in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands and Croatia, experienced leaving CAMHS and identified a range of factors impeding optimal discharge or transition to adult mental health services (AMHS).

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews about discharge or transition planning, including what information was provided about their ongoing mental health needs, undertaken with 34 young people aged 17–24, all previous or current attendees of CAMHS. Some interviews included accounts by parents or carers. Data were thematically analysed.

Findings

A number of previously well-documented barriers to a well-delivered discharge or transition were noted. Two issues less frequently reported on were identified and further discussed; they are the provision of an adequately explained, timely and appropriately used diagnosis and post-CAMHS medication management. Overall, planning processes for discharging or transitioning young people from CAMHS are often sub-optimal. Practice with regard to how and when young people are given a diagnosis and arrangements for the continuation of prescribed medication appear to be areas requiring improvement.

Originality/value

Study participants came from a large cohort involving a wide range of different services and health systems in the first pan-European study exploring the CAMHS to adult service interface. Two novel and infrequently discussed issues in the literature about young people’s mental health transitions, diagnosis and medication management were identified in this cohort and worthy of further study.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Corrigendum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article: Street, C., Ni Chinseallaigh, E., Holme, I., Appleton, R., Tah, P., Tuomainen, H., Leijdesdorff, S., van Bodegom, L., van Amelsvoort, T., Franic, T., Tomljenovic, H. and McNicholas, F. (2023), “Leaving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS): the impact of diagnosis and medication management on optimal discharge or transition”, Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-10-2022-0066, did not include the MILESTONE Consortium as an author.

Our guidelines make it clear that anyone who made a significant contribution to the paper must be included as an author.

The MILESTONE Consortium has been added as an author to this paper.

Citation

Street, C., Ni Chinseallaigh, E., Holme, I., Appleton, R., Tah, P., Tuomainen, H., Leijdesdorff, S., van Bodegom, L., van Amelsvoort, T., Franic, T., Tomljenovic, H. and McNicholas, F. (2023), "Leaving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS): the impact of diagnosis and medication management on optimal discharge or transition", Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 362-375. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-10-2022-0066

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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