Comparison of child and adult clinicians’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to effective care transition

ABSTRACT

Among individuals with mental illness, transition-age youth (TAY; age 16–25) have the lowest rate of treatment-seeking and the highest rate of premature exiting from treatment, at the exact time when their needs for mental health supports are greatest. This qualitative study provides insight into the perspectives of adult and child service clinicians regarding their perceived barriers and facilitators to reducing disengagement during the transition from child to adult mental health care. While child and adult clinicians agreed on many key barriers, they often disagreed on influencing factors. Child and adult clinicians had greater agreement among facilitators, particularly the need to provide greater service array flexibility during this transition.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• young adults
• mental health treatment engagement
• mental health policy
• serious mental health conditions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Support for work on this paper was provided by Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.