An Emergency Department Clinical Pathway for Children and Youth with Mental Health Conditions

Mona Jabbour; Jeffrey Hawkins; Doreen Day; Paula Cloutier; Christine Polihronis; Mario Cappelli; Allison Kennedy; Clare Gray

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2018.02.005

An Emergency Department Clinical Pathway for Children and Youth with Mental Health Conditions

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2018 Jul;27(3):413-425. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2018.02.005.

Authors

Mona Jabbour¹, Jeffrey Hawkins², Doreen Day³, Paula Cloutier⁴, Christine Polihronis⁴, Mario Cappelli⁵, Allison Kennedy⁶, Clare Gray⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8L1, Canada. Electronic address: Jabbour@cheo.on.ca.
² Hands TheFamilyHelpNetwork.ca, 391 Oak Street East, North Bay, Ontario, P1B 1A3, Canada.
³ The Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada.
⁴ Psychiatric and Mental Health Research, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada.
⁵ Psychiatric and Mental Health Research, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, 5457-1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Z 7K4, Canada; Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Vanier Hall, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada.
⁶ Mental Health, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L1, Canada.

PMID: 29933791
DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2018.02.005

Abstract

Children and youth presenting to the emergency department with mental health concerns present a challenge for clinicians and system capacity. Addressing a significant system gap and sparse strategies in the literature, representative leaders from hospital and community agencies developed a novel pathway to guide efficient and doable risk assessment and ensure timely transition to appropriate community mental health services. This article describes and reflects on our innovative Emergency Department Clinical Pathway for Children and Youth with Mental Health Conditions that bridges traditional barriers between hospital and community settings to address mental health needs for this population.

Keywords: Clinical pathway; Community mental health; Emergency department (ED); HEADS-ED; Implementation; Mental health/addictions; Screening tools.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Critical Pathways*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Humans
Mental Disorders / therapy*
Mental Health Services*