Browsing by Author "Parker, Naomi"

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    Mental health and social program usage: analyses for integrated mental health hubs
    (PolicyWise for Children & Families, 2019-07-19) Scott, Allison; Parker, Naomi; Salt, Valeri; Brown, Kyla; Piatt, Carley; Scott, Cathie; Cui, Xinjie
    In 2019, Alberta is creating integrated mental health hubs to support the well-being of youth. This report describes the proportion of youth (11 to 24 years old) between 2005/06 and 2010/11 who received mental health diagnostic codes in Alberta and their experiences with provincial services. This report found that (1) the proportion of youth who received diagnostic codes for a mental health condition was 20% overall, but highest (30%) in females 19-24 years old, (2) youth who received a mental health diagnostic code were more likely to have received services from a social program, be involved in the criminal justice system, and have indicators of substance abuse and self-harm behaviours, and (3) between 30% and 45% of older female youth with mental health diagnostic codes experienced pregnancy at least once during the report period. In addition, the report profiled specific service use information about three target community sites for the implementation of integrated mental health hubs. These findings provide policy-relevant evidence that public authorities may consider as they seek to better support children with mental health conditions and create integrated mental health hubs.
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    Youth mental health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, Canada: an interrupted time series, population-based study
    (2024-08-10) Russell, Matthew J.; Urichuk, Liana; Parker, Naomi; Agyapong, Vincent I. O.; Rittenbach, Katherine; Dyson, Michele P.; Hilario , Carla
    Abstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth had rising mental health needs and changes in service accessibility. Our study investigated changes in use of mental health care services for Canadian youth in Alberta before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigated how youth utilization patterns differed for subgroups based on social factors (i.e., age, gender, socioeconomic status, and geography) previously associated with health care access. Methods We used cross-sectional population-based data from Alberta, Canada to understand youth (15–24 year) mental health care use from 2018/19 to 2021/22. We performed interrupted time series design, segmented regression modeling on type of mental health care use (i.e., general physician, psychiatrist, emergency room, and hospitalization) and diagnosis-related use. We also investigated the characteristics of youth who utilized mental health care services and stratified diagnosis-related use patterns by youth subgroups. Results The proportion of youth using mental health care significantly increased from 15.6% in 2018/19 to 18.8% in 2021/22. Mental health care use showed an immediate drop in April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and public health protections were instituted, followed by a steady rise during the next 2 years. An increase was significant for general physician and psychiatrist visits. Most individual diagnoses included in this study showed significant increasing trends during the pandemic (i.e., anxiety, adjustment, ADHD, schizophrenia, and self-harm), with substance use showing an overall decrease. Mortality rates greatly increased for youth being seen for mental health reasons from 71 per 100,000 youth in 2018/19 to 163 per 100,000 in 2021/22. In addition, there were clear shifts over time in the characteristics of youth using mental health care services. Specifically, there was increased utilization for women/girls compared to men/boys and for youth from wealthier neighborhoods. Increases over time in the utilization of services for self-harm were limited to younger youth (15–16 year). Conclusions The study provides evidence of shifts in mental health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings can be used to plan for ongoing mental health needs of youth, future pandemic responses, and other public health emergencies.