Room
Auditoire Georges Spengler ( en face de l'accueil )
Theme
Children / Mental Health
Title
Children and youth mental health : prevention and intervention in primary care
Chair
Wim Nieuwenboom
Affiliation
University of Appled Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
Co-author
Members of the 'Fachgruppe Mental Health', Expert Group Mental Health of Public Health Switzerland
Abstract
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic mental health of children and youth has become more present in Swiss society as well as in the media. The COVID-Pandemic was indeed very challenging especially for children and younger people, but before the onset of it a trend has been observed already that suggests that the number of children with mental health issues is increasing. According to the OBSAN Bulletin 2022, since the start of the pandemic, more people have reported increased mental stress, but among boys, the proportion of those who have been affected has been more than doubled between 2017 and 2021. Furthermore, it states that since 2012, the psychiatric hospitalizations of children and adolescents have been steadily increasing and that the number girls and young women with depression has been doubled. What is especially concerning is the fact that hospitalizations due to a suspected suicide attempt have increased significantly among children and adolescents since 2017 - especially among girls and young women. A shift from ambulant to stationary psychiatry is also observable, as the number of ambulant contacts decreased in 2020 (OBSAN, 2022).This situation puts a heavy pressure on policy makers, and indeed a consensus that “something needs to be done” seems to be coming. It also stresses the importance of prevention and early intervention among this group as well as appropriate crisis intervention services. In this way also primary care is involved, as primary care is the first level of care which is available and accessible to all individuals and families in a community. In this sense an important task of primary care is to reduce social inequalities by reaching vulnerable groups like children and youth with mental health issues. In view of the necessity for a preventive approach, still up to the debate is how primary care can be organized in such way in order that it can act preventive if appropriate and intervene if necessary, thus guarantee that affected children and youth get the best care possible. This also needs a multidisciplinary and maybe even a transdisciplinary approach. It makes an inter-sectoral coordination necessary, because not only typical health professions but also others, like school teachers and social workers, are involved.
The Mental Health Expert Group has made the topic of children and youth mental health as a focus topic for this year. In an combined effort to bring the topic on the agenda, the Children and Youth Expert Group with the collaboration of the Mental Health Expert Group have organized a workshop that is to be held in May 2023. This workshop is meant to be an exchange of professional opinions, but also younger people are participating in an “Open Space” format. One aim of the proposed workshop here is the dissemination of the results of the above-mentioned meeting in May.
Members of the Mental Health Expert Group will present experiences and empirical results in this regard, which they will present in three short presentations, one of them will concern itself with the results of the above-mentioned workshop. If possible, also a contribution from abroad will be made. Afterwards, participants will discuss these results in small groups based on a list of questions. Our catalog of questions this year will be as follows:
Which are the relevant decisions to be taken in the field of children and youth mental health?
How can primary care adapt itself inorder to optimize prevention and (crisis) intervention among children and youth?
Which primary care structures are needed to reach this goal?
How can an inter-sectional approach in this area at best be supported?
Participants will reflect on the discussions (World Café) and the results will be saved for later reuse.