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What is a Mental Health Clinic? How to ask Parents about Help-seeking Contacts Within the Mental Health System

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Abstract

We compared parents’ endorsement of having contacted a “mental health clinic or agency” when seeking help for their child, with parents’ recognition of having contacted specific, named mental health agencies in their geographic region. Data were from two studies involving parents of children and adolescents seeking mental health services. Across the two studies, only 28 and 41% of parents reported having contacted a “mental health agency,” but 100% reported contact when asked about specific agencies by name. Incorporating this simple modification in future studies could provide more accurate documentation of help-seeking for, and utilization of, children’s mental health services.

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Acknowledgments

This study was part of a larger project supported by grants from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (RC1-0959-06) and the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services. The Advisory Board for the project was invaluable and included: Marian Archibald, Judith Belle Brown, Charles E. Cunningham, Barrie Evans, Barbara Lent, Helen Lowe, Nadia Mazaheri, Lynn Ryan Mackenzie, Richard Neufeld, Moira A. Stewart, Shannon Stewart, William Tucker, Gail Ure, Claire Wallace-Piccin, Tom Walters, Evelyn R. Vingilis, and Gregory Zaric. We greatly appreciate the efforts of the participating Children’s Mental Health Centres and in particular the intake staff who recruited parents for the study, the research staff, and the students who took part in this project. Finally, we thank the families who participated in this project for their time and willingness to share their experiences with us.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychology, Family Medicine & Paediatrics, Westminster College, Room 319E, The University of Western Ontario, 361 Windermere Road, London, ON, Canada, N6A 3K7

    Graham J. Reid

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Juliana I. Tobon & Dianne C. Shanley

  3. School of Behavioral, Cognitive and Social Sciences, The University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Dianne C. Shanley

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  1. Graham J. Reid
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  2. Juliana I. Tobon
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  3. Dianne C. Shanley
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Correspondence to Graham J. Reid.

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Reid, G.J., Tobon, J.I. & Shanley, D.C. What is a Mental Health Clinic? How to ask Parents about Help-seeking Contacts Within the Mental Health System. Adm Policy Ment Health 35, 241–249 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-008-0165-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-008-0165-z

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