Communicating about Mental Health with Youth and Their Families: A Scoping Review of Best Practices and Implications for Youth with Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Minimal attention has been placed on supporting the mental health needs of youth with disabilities. Due to a dearth of research on best practices in mental health communication with youth with disabilities, the aim of the scoping review was to identify existing peer-reviewed evidence regarding mental health communication for the general youth population in clinical settings. Three electronic databases were searched. Inclusion criteria were: 1) published in English between 2009 and 2019; 2) children and youth and/or their parents/caregivers; 3) addressed communication-based mental health practices; 4) based in pediatric health care settings. Seven articles were included. Promoting autonomy and engagement, building collaboration and trust, and supplementing conversations with alternative communication approaches were identified as important for having mental health conversations. While implications can be drawn, more work is needed for clinicians to have a rigorous evidence base to draw upon when having these conversations with youth with disabilities.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Centres for Leadership for Child Development, with support from Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation. We would like to thank the young adults who helped inform this research. We are also grateful to Pui-Ying Wong, Health Sciences Librarian, for her support in the database searches. Sarah Keenan and Shauna Beaudoin helped conceptualize the project, facilitated the stakeholder engagement groups and helped develop the research question for the scoping review. Shauna Beaudoin also provided feedback on the manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

None declared.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Centres for Leadership for Child Development, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.