Investigating Service Users’ and Carers’ Views of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Northern Ireland

Abstract

The Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability, Northern Ireland commissioned the present consultation to support the work of its Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) subgroup. The investigation employed a two-stage qualitative approach to explore views and opinions held by users and carers about CAMH services. Nineteen services distributed questionnaires on a single day between 13 and 15 October, 2004 in order to provide a “snap-shot” of service user's views. Four focus groups, two consisting of parents/carers and two consisting of young people, were conducted. Responses from both stages were content analysed and key themes were drawn out. The content analysis of responses from the questionnaire study showed that 40% (six) of the derived categories described negative experiences of CAMH services, with 60% (nine) of the categories expressing positive views. Analysis of focus group data produced a total of 14 categories (88%) indicating dissatisfaction with CAMH services and two categories (12%) expressing generally positive views. These findings suggest that while users and carers valued CAMH services, they felt more could be done to help their children and wider families. Major areas for development highlighted include increasing capacity at all tiers of service, developing collaborative models of practice, developing public knowledge about child and adolescent mental health, and establishing meaningful structures for increased user participation in the planning and monitoring of CAMH services.