Welcoming 2025: Striving for Improved Treatment Access

As many as 20% of children and adolescents have a psychiatric diagnosis, with rates of depression and anxiety increasing dramatically after the pandemic [1]. Although robust treatments do exist, effective and personalized behavioral healthcare access remains a significant issue throughout the world, particularly with regards to access to evidence-based intervention protocols. Treatment barriers include many factors including family circumstances (e.g., time, effort), attitudes (e.g., effective/supportive providers, trust/confidence in provider, stigma), knowledge and understanding of the problem and help seeking process (e.g., recognize impact and severity, where and how to seek help) and mental health system (e.g., costs, availability, and logistics). Among youth, many teens and their parents wish to solve mental health problems independently before starting to engage behavioral health professionals. Collectively, these factors have been described as a main reason why treatment was not sought [2]. Thus, service delivery models utilizing effective treatments that address barriers can broaden access to prevent children from a lifetime of chronic illness and impairment. …