Health News Illinois reported: Study: Gaps remain in emergency care for children in mental health crises.
Though Illinois hospitals have made progress in caring for children who report to emergency departments with mental health crises, challenges remain around limited access to specialists and long waits for psychiatric care, according to a new study from researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
Of the 65 emergency departments in Illinois that responded to the study, nearly two-thirds were in a hospital without a pediatric inpatient unit. About one in five responding emergency departments were in critical access hospitals, representing communities where access to pediatric mental health specialists may be especially challenging.
Only 56 percent of emergency departments reported having mental health professionals available onsite, while another 44 percent reported using telemental health services. Top concerns raised by respondents included the limited availability of post-visit services, as well as prolonged waits for children to be matched with needed psychiatric care.
“Children experiencing a mental health crisis should not have to wait days in an emergency department for the care they need,” said Dr. Jennifer Hoffmann, the study’s lead author and an emergency medicine physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “We would never allow a child with a broken leg to wait three days for surgery. We should apply those same standards to children with mental health needs.”
The study found that roughly 88 percent of emergency departments screen children for suicide risks, regardless of the reason for their visit. However, only about half of the respondents said they consistently followed recommended steps to prepare families to keep children safe from self-harm at home.
Respondents noted several steps that can be taken to address the challenges faced by children, such as increased investments in mental health staffing, therapeutic activities and real-time bed tracking for better coordination of psychiatric resources.
“Hospitals told us what they need – better access to mental health professionals, tools to support children while they wait, and systems that make it easier to connect children with the right level of care,” Hoffmann said. “Our findings provide a roadmap for improving pediatric mental health emergency care.”
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