Child Psychiatry Practice Patterns in Ontario

Abstract

An optimal ratio of child psychiatrists per population served still needs to be determined, with special consideration given to the needs of rural communities. The small ratio of child psychiatrists to the population of children with mental health needs highlights the importance of collaborating with other medical and mental health professionals. Recruiting and retaining child psychiatrists will need to be monitored. Child psychiatrists in Ontario need a unified voice to address these issues.

Review of the literature regarding early intervention for children and adolescents aged 0–15 experiencing a first‐episode psychiatric disturbance

“…Ontario, for example, has a child and adolescent telepsychiatry programme that has been running at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto for over 7 years, serving 14 satellite rural programmes all over the northern parts of Ontario and some in the southwest region. The telepsychiatry approach developed in part as a response to the 1:6 ratio of Ontario's child psychiatrists to children with mental health problems, and the fact that only 2.6% of child psychiatrists practise in populations of less than 20 000 in Ontario (Dr Antonio Pignatiello et al ., unpublished data, 2005) 7,82 . Ontario has recently embarked on expanding its telepsychiatry programme for children and adolescents to be a provincially mandated service with multisited hubs.…”

“…For example, the Ontario Child Health Study reported that 20% of children and adolescents under the age of 16 have at least one diagnosable mental health disorder at any given time, yet only one in six receive treatment 5,6 . Children and youth in rural areas have even less access to treatment because of the lack of mental health specialty services existing in remote regions 7 …”

Masthead

“…A similar prevalence rate applies in the province of Ontario, but only one in six receives services . In Ontario, the ratio of child psychiatrists to children and youth with mental health needs is approximately one to 6,148 (Steele and Veitch Wolfe 1999), which is much lower than an estimated need of one to 1,390 (Thomas and Holzer 2006). Estimates of young people with psychological or psychiatric problems who are seen in primary care range from 15 to 40% (Clatney et al 2008;Hilty et al 2009;Stretch et al 2009).…”

Attracting Child Psychiatrists to a Televideo Consultation Service: The TeleLink Experience

“…In Ontario, Canada, the problem of access is particularly problematic in rural communities and complicates provision of mental health services [3]. The ratio of child psychiatrists to children with mental health needs is approximately 1 : 6,148 [4]. However, only 2% of child psychiatrists practice primarily in areas with populations of less than 20,000, though approximately 18% of the population lives in rural areas [4].…”

“…The ratio of child psychiatrists to children with mental health needs is approximately 1 : 6,148 [4]. However, only 2% of child psychiatrists practice primarily in areas with populations of less than 20,000, though approximately 18% of the population lives in rural areas [4]. The shortage of resources and support services in rural communities means that children requiring urgent care often are frequently placed in residential care outside of their community [5].…”