Are "drop-in" mental health services in children's hospitals accessible for all?
Submitted by Anna Roach
Children and young people with long term physical health conditions are more likely than others to have poor mental health. However, these children and their families usually struggle to access mental health support. Receiving support can be even harder for families from non-white backgrounds. A drop-in service providing short-term mental health support for these families was set up at six children’s hospitals across England. This study looked at how families from non-white backgrounds accessed these services, and whether it helped their mental health. It also explored what all families, across ethnicities, thought of the service.
Researchers looked at the mental health of 120 families before and after using the service. They explored if families from non-white backgrounds had the same experience as White British families who used the service. Families gave feedback about the service which was used to understand what families thought of the service, what they liked about it and what they thought could be improved.
We found that many families who were not white used the service. Non-white families’ mental health symptoms improved more than white families’ after using the service. Families from all backgrounds shared very positive experiences with the service, mainly focusing on how it changed children’s lives, improved parents’ mental health, and was an easy way to get support.
Our conclusion suggests that providing mental healthcare this way at children’s hospitals may make it easier for children with long term illnesses and families from all ethnicities to receive mental health support.
NB: In this paper we have used the term "ethnic minority" at times, rather than the preferred, de-colonial "global majority" term. The way the analysis and comparisons were conducted meant that global majority was not an accurate or appropriate term to use, but we note that future work should always seek to use language that is accurate, inclusive and preferred.
I’m a clinician – what does this mean for me?
Providing self-referral options for support and co-locating mental and physical healthcare is positive for families and can reach a wider representation of families from different ethnic backgrounds.