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Attaining the age threshold for adolescent mental health services: factors associated with transition of care in the independent sector in Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2019

L. Bond ,
A. Feeney ,
R. Collins ,
I. Khurshid ,
S. Healy ,
A. Murtagh  and
P. Power
L. Bond*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Dublin, Ireland
A. Feeney
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Dublin, Ireland
R. Collins
Affiliation:
Primary Care Psychology, HSE Community Health East, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland
I. Khurshid
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Dublin, Ireland
S. Healy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Dublin, Ireland
A. Murtagh
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Dublin, Ireland
P. Power
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Dublin, Ireland Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Laura Bond, Department of Psychiatry, St Patrick’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. (Email: lbond@stpatsmail.com)
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Abstract

Objectives

The transition from adolescent to adult mental health services (AMHS) is associated with disengagement, poor continuity of care and patient dissatisfaction. The aim of this retrospective and descriptive study was to describe the ‘care pathways’ in an independent mental health service when adolescents reach age 18 and to investigate the level of engagement of those who transitioned to independent AMHS.

Methods

This is a retrospective, naturalistic and descriptive study in design. All patients discharged from the St Patrick’s Adolescent Mental Health Service aged 17 years and 6 months and older, during a 3-year period between January 2014 and December 2016, were included. Electronic records were used to collect socio-demographic and clinical details and to determine engagement rates in adolescents who transferred to independent adult services.

Results

A total of 180 patients aged over 17 years and 6 months were discharged from the adolescent service. Of these, 45.6% were discharged to their GP, 28.9% to public mental health services and 25.6% to independent mental health services. The majority who transitioned to independent AMHS went to a Young Adult Service, which had high engagement rates at 3 and 12 months post-transition.

Conclusions

In this independent mental health service, less than half of adolescents who reach the transition age are referred onto AMHS. Engagement rates were found to be high among those referred on to a specialised young adult service.

Keywords

Adolescencemental health servicestransition to adult careyoung adult services
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 187 - 193
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2019 

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