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A ground-breaking report from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, examines the gap that exists in population-based mental health research for children and youth in Ontario.
“We need better information to guide policies around the mental healthcare and treatment of children and youth in this province. This report is the first step in providing the evidence we require to do just that,” said Dr. Paul Kurdyak, co-author, CAMH Scientist and lead of the Mental Health and Addictions Research Program at ICES.
The Mental Health of Children and Youth in Ontario: A Baseline Scorecard uses diverse sources of data up to 2013/2014 and focuses on children, youth and young adults aged 0 to 24-years-old. The report is part of the first phase of The Government of Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, Open Minds, Healthy Minds, which was launched in June 2011.
“This is the first report in Canada that comprehensively describes the current state of mental health and addictions system performance for children and youth – an important age group because this is when many mental health problems begin. We described population-based outcomes and service use in the context of social disparities and healthcare regions. Some of our indicators point to important areas of inequity to be addressed by the evolving mental health system for children and youth,” said Dr. Astrid Guttmann, co-author and chief science officer at ICES.
Notable findings from the report include:
However, targeted investments in services were associated with improved access to mental health and addictions care, including:
“This report tells us that mental health and public health practitioners, policy-makers and researchers need to work together to identify and enhance health promotion and intervention strategies for Ontario’s children and youth, while improving timely access to treatment for those suffering from mental illness and addictions,” said Kurdyak.
The report is a snapshot of the state of various context and system performance indicators from available data and will be updated every two years to provide ongoing monitoring of the performance of the mental healthcare system and strategy.
ICES is an independent, non-profit organization that uses population-based health information to produce knowledge on a broad range of healthcare issues. Our unbiased evidence provides measures of health system performance, a clearer understanding of the shifting healthcare needs of Ontarians, and a stimulus for discussion of practical solutions to optimize scarce resources. ICES knowledge is highly regarded in Canada and abroad, and is widely used by government, hospitals, planners, and practitioners to make decisions about care delivery and to develop policy.
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