Objective: Describe objectively the global gaps in policy, data gathering capacity, and resources to develop and implement services to support child mental health.
Methods: Report on the World ...health Organization (WHO) child and adolescent mental health resources Atlas project. The Atlas project utilized key informants and was supplemented by studies that focused on policy. This report also draws on current epidemiological studies to provide a context for understanding the magnitude of the clinical problem.
Results: Current global epidemiological data consistently reports that up to 20% of children and adolescents suffer from a disabling mental illness; that suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents; and that up to 50% of all adult mental disorders have their onset in adolescence. While epidemiological data appears relatively uniform globally, the same is not true for policy and resources for care. The gaps in resources for child mental health can be categorized as follows: economic, manpower, training, services and policy. Key findings from the Atlas project include: lack of program development in low income countries; lack of any policy in low income countries and absent specific comprehensive policy in both low and high income countries; lack of data gathering capacity including that for country‐level epidemiology and services outcomes; failure to provide social services in low income countries; lack of a continuum of care; and universal barriers to access. Further, the Atlas findings underscored the need for a critical analysis of the ‘burden of disease’ as it relates to the context of child and adolescent mental disorders, and the importance of defining the degree of ‘impairment’ of specific disorders in different cultures.
Conclusions: The recent finding of substantial gaps in resources for child mental health underscores the need for enhanced data gathering, refinement of the economic argument for care, and need for innovative training approaches.
WHO Child Atlas Project Belfer, Myron L; Saxena, Shekhar
The Lancet (British edition),
02/2006, Volume:
367, Issue:
9510
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
About half of all lifetime mental disorders begin before the age of 14 years.1 Worldwide prevalence rates for child and adolescent mental disorders are around 20%, with similar types of disorders ...across cultures.2,3 Information about the lifetime financial costs and long-term morbidity associated with mental disorders that begin in childhood is beginning to be reported.4-9 Despite these findings, which were anecdotal for decades, the gap in mental-health services for children and adolescents with mental disorders is evident in virtually all countries at a time when the need has never been greater. The response rate itself reflects the difficulty in identifying individuals at the country level who have responsibility for and knowledge of the resources and services for problems associated with child and adolescent mental health.
PURPOSE OF REVIEWPolicy development is essential for the development of child and adolescent mental health services. The gaps in policy and knowledge on how to develop policy have hindered the ...development of sustainable services.
RECENT FINDINGSThe WHO has now objectively identified gaps in child and adolescent mental health policy and services worldwide through its Atlas project. Others have identified the need to use evidence-based interventions in developing services and the need for ongoing evaluation. These latter elements are essential for effective policy implementation.
SUMMARYData are now available worldwide to move forward with advocacy for child and adolescent mental health policy development.
Background Understanding children’s behaviour and emotional conditions will allow parents to help them cope with the tasks of growing up. The accuracy of parents to identify their children as needing ...mental health services, and the factor that might influence parental perceptions is important.Objectives To explore parents’ recognition and help-seeking patterns for behavior and emotional problems of school age children; To identify parents’ perceived needs and barriers in achieving access to appropriate mental health services.Methods We involved six parents who had primary school children with behavior and/or emotional problems identified by their class teacher. Parents were interviewed by using a semistructured clinical interview, some were adapted from the Arthur Kleinman’s explanatory model of illness. Data were presented in descriptive and interpretative accounts.Results In general, parents were aware that their children had behavioural and emotional problems but assumed it was part of their normal development. Four parents did not take their children to seek any professional help, assuming they would be able to overcome this situation with the helping hand from the school class teachers. Parents perceived that they were weak in parenting their child.Conclusion This study emphasizes the need to increase parents’ awareness and understanding and helping agencies so they can recognize the problems accurately and overcome the barriers appropriately. Paediatr Indones. 2010;50:18-25.
The recent Southeast Asia tsunami confronted countries with the challenge to provide mental healthcare to children and adolescents who experienced loss, displacement and disruption of daily lives. ...The region that was affected is resource poor, however a great deal could be learned about the needed approaches to care, and the cautions that had to be exercised to avoid doing harm. The experience highlights the need to enhance the capacities for appropriate needs assessment, diagnosis, triage and post-disaster support in terms of schooling and employment.
The tsunami that struck South‐east Asia on 26 December 2004 left more than 500,000 people in Aceh, Indonesia, homeless and displaced to temporary barracks and other communities. This study examines ...the associations between prolonged habitation in barracks and the nature of fears reported by school‐age children and adolescents. In mid‐2007, 30 months after the tsunami, the authors interviewed 155 child and parent dyads. Logistic regression analysis was used to compare the fears reported by children and adolescents living in barracks with those reported by their peers who were living in villages. After adjusting for demographic factors and tsunami exposure, the data reveals that children and adolescents living in barracks were three times more likely than those living in villages to report tsunami‐related fears. The study demonstrates that continued residence in barracks 30 months after the tsunami is associated with higher rates of reporting tsunami‐related fears, suggesting that barracks habitation has had a significant impact on the psychological experience of children and adolescents since the tsunami.
Highlights • The study showed: parent of children with schizophrenia showed a chaotically disengaged relationship. • Healthy parental relationship was more adherence in giving the medication. • ...Having a child with schizophrenia was major stressor to Indonesian family.
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