Systems of Care & Collaborative Approaches: An Answer to the Youth Mental Health Emergency

The article highlights the importance of a systems of care (SOC) approach to the youth mental health emergency, which creates more effective safety nets for youth and families. Topics discussed include effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of children, philosophy of SOC, and specific models of care or processes that are aligned with SOC principles and deserve further elaboration.

Using Implementation Science to Inform Workforce and Service Development in Youth Mental Health: An Australian Case Study.

Globally, mental illness and substance use disorders are the leading cause of disability and disease burden for young people. Orygen is an Australian youth mental health organisation with a mission to reduce the impact of mental ill health on young people, families and society, through research, clinical services, advocacy, and the design and delivery of youth mental health workforce and service development initiatives. Orygen is one of only a few known research and clinical centres with a dedicated knowledge translation division, which concentrates on growing the capacity of the systems, services, and professionals who support young people experiencing mental ill health. This paper provides a case study of the workforce development team within the Orygen knowledge translation, outlining how implementation science informs their work and how the division has adapted its model in the face of COVID-19. Since 2017, the team has delivered training to more than 4000 youth mental health workers across Australia, on the topics of trauma, psychosis, mood and anxiety disorders, brief interventions, cognition and other areas of youth mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic generated abrupt and dramatic changes to the delivery of workforce and service development initiatives in Australia due to significant restrictions to travel and in-person events. It also placed major delivery demands on youth mental health services. This paper outlines how the team at Orygen adapted their approach to youth mental health workforce development in response to COVID-19, offering reflections and future directions for implementation science that can support flexible models of support in a changing system.

Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder With Buprenorphine Among US Adolescents and Young Adults During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is unknown. METHODS: We used IQVIA Longitudinal Prescription Claims, including US AYAs aged 12-29 with at least 1 buprenorphine fill between January 2018 and August 2020, stratifying by age group and insurance. We compared buprenorphine prescriptions in March-August 2019 to March-August 2020. RESULTS: The monthly buprenorphine prescription rate increased 8.3% among AYAs aged 12-17 but decreased 7.5% among 18- to 24-year-olds and decreased 5.1% among 25- to 29-year-olds. In these age groups, Medicaid prescriptions did not significantly change, whereas commercial insurance prescriptions decreased 12.9% among 18- to 24-year-olds and 11.8% in 25- to 29-year-olds, and cash/other prescriptions decreased 18.7% among 18- to 24-year-olds and 19.9% in 25- to 29-year-olds (p < .001 for all). DISCUSSION: Buprenorphine prescriptions paid with commercial insurance or cash among young adults significantly decreased early in the pandemic, suggesting a possible unmet treatment need among this group.

Measures for mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the health of girls, boys, and adolescents in contexts of protection: A synthesis of policy recommendations in the Americas, 2020

Introduction. This paper describes and analyses recommendations to protect and mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents. Objective. To analyze recommendations to manage the COVID-19 pandemic of several restoring rights programs for children and adolescents in American protection systems. Methods. A literature review was done, using the form of rapid evidence syntheses, to provide information about social and health policies. Results. The results show that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a convergence of both the interest in promoting mental health in girls, boys, and adolescents and the interest to prevent COVID infection through the recommended biosecurity measures. Conclusions. Recommendations show the need for reviewing the internment treatment as a main caring program, considering the side effects of institutionalization on children and adolescents mental health. © 2021 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. All rights reserved.