(Press-News.org) For Immediate Release – November 19, 2012 (Toronto) Youth with mental illness are among the most vulnerable, but new research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found that less than half of Ontario youth aged 15 to 19 hospitalized with a psychiatric diagnosis received follow-up care with a primary care doctor or psychiatrist within a month after being discharged.
"Timely aftercare is crucial in maintaining the health of youth with mental illness, and avoids future hospitalization, which is the most intensive, intrusive and expensive psychiatric treatment setting," said Dr. Corine Carlisle, Clinical Head of CAMH's Youth Addiction and Concurrent Disorders Service. "What is concerning is that some of those most in need are not receiving follow-up, including youth with lower socioeconomic status and those who have been diagnosed with more than one mental illness."
Dr. Carlisle and her team studied the health records of more than 7,000 adolescents in Ontario discharged between 2002-2004, and found gaps in follow-up care which seemed to be linked to demographics and diagnoses. The study was published in the November 2012 issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
The research found that adolescents who did not receive follow-up care were more likely to be from Northern Ontario (2 per cent), female (57 per cent), live in rural areas (18 per cent), suffer from a mood disorder (37 per cent) and have exhibited self-harm or suicidality (12 per cent).
"There are only one-tenth the child psychiatrists in Ontario needed to meet the needs of youth with severe mental illness," added Dr. Carlisle. "Clinical and policy efforts are needed to redress the socioeconomic and geographic disparities and improve timely access to mental health aftercare for all youth."
Rob Moore, Executive Director of CAMH's Provincial System Support Program, points out that these efforts are already underway. CAMH is creating 'service collaboratives' across Ontario to try to close some of the gaps in mental health services for children and youth. This is part of Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, which is focusing its first investment in improving the mental health of young people. "The research study being released today shows that our efforts are needed and that we are on the right track," said Moore.
###Media contact: Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations, 416-595-6015; or by email at media@camh.ca
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in its field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.
CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.
Less than half of youth with mental illness received adequate follow-up care, new study finds
2012-11-19
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
The fragility of the welfare state
2012-11-19
VIDEO:
A video explaining the fragility of the welfare state.
Click here for more information.
The social contract that supports the welfare state, where income is redistributed, is fragile. That is one of the main conclusions of an experimental study done at Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M), which analyzes how the redistribution of income to people through government action originates.
The study, carried out by Professor Antonio Cabrales, of UC3M, in collaboration with ...
A myth debunked: The full moon does not increase the incidence of psychological problems
2012-11-19
This release is available in French.
Quebec City, November 19, 2012—Contrary to popular belief, there is no connection between lunar phases and the incidence of psychological problems. This is the conclusion reached by a team of researchers directed by Professor Geneviève Belleville of Université Laval's School of Psychology after having examined the relationship between the moon's phases and the number of patients who show up at hospital emergency rooms experiencing psychological problems. Details on the study can be found on the website of the scientific journal General ...
The benefits of gratitude, how weight stigma affects health, and more
2012-11-19
Science on the benefits of gratitude and new in our journals...
For Thanksgiving and Holidays: Benefits of gratitude
A growing body of research highlights the importance of gratitude for both social and personal well-being. Ahead of Thanksgiving and the holidays, talk to an expert on gratitude research:
Sara Algoe of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who has investigated how gratitude benefits close relationships, including how expressing gratitude leads to long-term social outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer and the evolutionary role for ...
Genetic factor holds key to blood vessel health
2012-11-19
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a genetic factor that prevents blockages from forming in blood vessels, a discovery that could lead to new therapies for cardiovascular diseases.
The findings are described in the Nov. 19 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Researchers led by Mukesh K. Jain, MD, FAHA, professor of medicine, Ellery Sedgwick Jr. Chair and director of Case Cardiovascular Research Institute at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, found that a shortage of the genetic factor KLF4, which regulates ...
Sequester will have a devastating impact on America's research enterprise
2012-11-19
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three organizations representing America's research universities today launched a website that aims to inform policymakers and the public of the impact that the upcoming budget sequester would have on federal funding for university research. The organizations – the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and The Science Coalition (TSC) – urge Congressional leaders and the President to act quickly to develop a comprehensive, balanced solution to America's fiscal crisis that avoids steep cuts ...
Alcohol provides protective effect, reduces mortality substantial
2012-11-19
Injured patients were less likely to die in the hospital if they had alcohol in their blood, according to a study from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health -- and the more alcohol, the more likely they were to survive.
"This study is not encouraging people to drink," cautions UIC injury epidemiologist Lee Friedman, author of the study, which will be published in the December issue of the journal Alcohol and is now online.
That's because alcohol intoxication -- even minor inebriation -- is associated with an increased risk of being injured, he ...
Fruit fly studies guide investigators to misregulated mechanism in human cancers
2012-11-19
KANSAS CITY, MO—Changes in how DNA interacts with histones—the proteins that package DNA—regulate many fundamental cell activities from stem cells maturing into a specific body cell type or blood cells becoming leukemic. These interactions are governed by a biochemical tug of war between repressors and activators, which chemically modify histones signaling them to clamp down tighter on DNA or move aside and allow a gene to be expressed.
In the November 19, 2012, online edition of the journal Genes & Development, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research ...
The Journal of Biological Chemistry commemorates an important 1987 discovery
2012-11-19
It has been 25 years since the identification of two proteins that facilitate communication between nerve cells – a significant achievement that revealed a group of related proteins. In recognition of this advancement, the Journal of Biological Chemistry has published a series of articles that assess what we know about each family member in this group and where that research is headed.
This superfamily was recognized in 1987 with the discoveries of the genes that encode two of its members, the GABAA and glycine receptors, and of the similarity of these proteins to the ...
Is that nervous feeling social anxiety disorder, or is it simply a case of being shy?
2012-11-19
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Most people are faced with embarrassment or humiliation at some point in their lives. Maybe they get nervous before a big presentation to the bosses at work. Maybe they get a bit anxious thinking about approaching an attractive stranger at a party. But where is the line between normal shyness and social anxiety disorder?
Rhode Island Hospital researcher Kristy L. Dalrymple, Ph.D., of the department of psychiatry, explores the variances between the two, and discusses the differing beliefs of over, and under-, diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (SAD) ...
Protein test is first to predict rate of progression in Lou Gehrig’s disease
2012-11-19
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A novel test that measures proteins from nerve damage that are deposited in blood and spinal fluid reveals the rate of progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in patients, according to researchers from Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida, Emory University and the University of Florida.
Their study, which appears online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, suggests this test, if perfected, could help physicians and researchers identify those patients at most risk for rapid progression. These patients could then be offered ...