Legal Rights and Responsibilities of Adolescents and Staff in Victorian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

1996 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 805-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Birleson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
The Right

Objectives: The aim of the paper is to clarify the legal rights of adolescent patients, guardians and staff in Victorian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Victorian CAMHS have now been ‘gazetted’ and can admit patients on an involuntary basis under the amended Mental Health Act 1986 (MHA). The MHA applies equally to young people under the age of 18 years, which has raised some confusion about who has the right to consent to treatment. Method: Staff of CAMHS inpatient units have recently posed questions to the Victorian chief psychiatrist. These have included clarification of when the MHA may be appropriately used for adolescents, what is the clinician's duty of care, how to assess young people's capacity to consent to treatment, how to manage some patient groups, and what is the role of the courts in treatment decisions. The author provides a view on each of these matters, based on recent literature and confirmed by legal opinion. Results: Some matters of fact are presented and advice is provided. Conclusions: Services must seek the informed consent of guardians and adolescents and, for those young people with major psychiatric disorders who require treatment and are unable to consent, the amended MHA provides clearer direction for the use of involuntary treatment. Where units offer admission to provide assessment and stabilisation, a clear explanation about the treatment goals, and the role of restraint and medication in managing behaviour is essential at the outset of the admission process.

scholarly journals Incidence of anorexia nervosa in young people in the UK and Ireland: a national surveillance study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e027339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hristina Petkova ◽  
Mima Simic ◽  
Dasha Nicholls ◽  
Tamsin Ford ◽  
A Matthew Prina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Surveillance Study ◽  
The Uk

ObjectivesThis study aimed to estimate the incidence of DSM5 anorexia nervosa in young people in contact with child and adolescent mental health services in the UK and Ireland.DesignObservational, surveillance study, using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Surveillance System, involving monthly reporting by child and adolescent psychiatrists between 1st February 2015 and 30th September 2015.SettingThe study was based in the UK and Ireland.ParticipantsClinician-reported data on young people aged 8–17 in contact with child and adolescent mental health services for a first episode of anorexia nervosa.Main outcome measuresAnnual incidence rates (IRs) estimated as confirmed new cases per 100 000 population at risk.Results305 incident cases of anorexia nervosa were reported over the 8-month surveillance period and assessed as eligible for inclusion. The majority were young women (91%), from England (70%) and of white ethnicity (92%). Mean age was 14.6 years (±1.66) and mean percentage of median expected body mass index for age and sex was 83.23% (±10.99%). The overall IR, adjusted for missing data, was estimated to be 13.68 per 100 000 population (95% CI 12.88 to 14.52), with rates of 25.66 (95% CI 24.09 to 27.30) for young women and 2.28 (95% CI 1.84 to 2.79) for young men. Incidence increased steadily with age, peaking at 15 (57.77, 95% CI 50.41 to 65.90) for young women and 16 (5.14, 95% CI 3.20 to 7.83) for young men. Comparison with earlier estimates suggests IRs for children aged 12 and under have increased over the last 10 years.ConclusionThese results provide new estimates of the incidence of anorexia nervosa in young people. Service providers and commissioners should consider evidence to suggest an increase in incidence in younger children.Trial registration numberISRCTN12676087.

Social Workers in Child Mental Health: Securing a Future

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-107
Author(s):  
Philip Messent
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Mental Health ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
The Uk

A study was conducted to investigate reductions in the numbers of social work posts located within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the UK. Results suggested that reductions in posts noted in earlier studies are continuing. Interviewees' ideas about factors contributing to the survival of such posts are summarised. The significance of the loss of posts is discussed, with an account of changing ideas about the role of social workers within CAMHS teams, and of an audit undertaken of one service lacking such a post. Conclusions are drawn concerning ways of ensuring the preservation of such posts.

scholarly journals Incorporating Children and Young People’s Voices in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Using The Family Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Hoadley ◽  
Freya Smith ◽  
Cecilia Wan ◽  
Adrian Falkov
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Family Model ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Focused Practice

Mental illness in children and young people is increasing in frequency and complexity, is emerging earlier and is persisting into adulthood. This is a global issue with implications for research, policy and practice. Children and young people require the experience of safe, nurturing relationships for optimal lifelong outcomes. Despite awareness of this in Child and Adolescent Mental Health services, a focus on the relational context in which children and young people present is not universal. A challenge in family focused practice is to ensure that no individual’s voice is ‘too loud’ and that children and young people’s voices are heard. This article illustrates how a balance between individual and systems understanding can be achieved in therapeutic work by incorporating the voices of children and young people and concerns of other family members. This article describes an approach to improving family focused practice in a public Child and Adolescent Mental Health service. Use of The Family Model, as a family focused practice tool, is presented across three service settings. The Family Model intervention is briefly described, outlining the way in which it supports collaborative practice and assists clinicians to achieve the balance described above. Vignettes will demonstrate how children and young people’s voices are explicitly incorporated in formulating mental health issues with two generations to generate developmentally informed care plans.

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