Mental Health Crisis Among Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The increasing incidence of mental health illnesses among children and adolescents has become a dire public health issue and a concern among families nationwide. A project that focuses on the causes of this mental health crisis would be greatly beneficial to managing this crisis. It would help families and improve the healthcare continuum. The proposed research question would be, In children and adolescents aged 5-18, what is the effect of increased awareness of the mental illness and improved access to mental healthcare, on reducing the prevalence of the ongoing mental health crisis, compared to no intervention? The role of the researcher would be to conduct a study that focuses on providing the intervention of awareness on mental illness, assessing the impact of improved access to mental health care, and correlating the effects on the prevalence of the mental health crisis. The target population would be children and adolescents; this is a very vulnerable population, thus a full Institutional Review Board (IRB) review should be completed to ensure that the research goal, method, and project design stay within the ethical context and do not infringe on the human and moral rights of this vulnerable patient population. Informed consent needs to be obtained from the parents and the participants.