The Youth Transition Project was designed to provide youth with mental health and addiction issues with individualized transitional care plans as they transition from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS). Over an 18-month period, a total of 127 (59.1%) youth were transitioned and seen by an AMHS provider, 41 (19.1%) remained on a waitlist for services and 47 (21.8%) canceled services. The average time to transition was 110 days (SD = 100). Youth exhibited a wide range of diagnoses; 100% of the population was identified as having serious psychiatric problems. Findings demonstrate that the Youth Transition Project has been successful in promoting continuity of care by transitioning youth seamlessly from youth to adult services. Inconsistencies in wait times and service delivery suggest that further model development is needed to enhance the long-term sustainability of the Youth Transition Project.
A partial hospitalization program was developed for youth with moderate to severe psychiatric disorders. The objectives of this study were to prospectively assess changes from admission to discharge in the participants' clinical symptoms and psychosocial functioning, as well as the maintenance of any treatment gains at 3-month follow-up. In this naturalistic treatment study, 55 youth completed both the youth partial hospitalization program and the study. Diagnosis at admission was established by a psychiatrist based on a clinical assessment and a structured diagnostic interview. Clinician-rated and self-report measures of symptoms and psychosocial functioning were administered at admission, discharge, and follow-up to track changes over time. Clinically and statistically significant improvements were found in both symptoms and psychosocial functioning from admission to discharge on all study measures. Furthermore, these gains were maintained at 3-month follow-up. The results suggest that partial hospitalization programs can be an effective modality in treating youth with moderate to severe psychiatric disorders.
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