Collaborative care for mental health of children and young people: a qualitative study of the experiences of mental health professionals

Abstract

Purpose

The development and implementation of a provider collaborative (PC) represents an ambitious and complex piece of work to be delivered across a geographical area for a vulnerable patient cohort. The UK East Midlands Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) PC was established in April 2021, and the current study aimed to explore the views of a variety of staff members about its functioning over the first twelve months. Specifically, it explored whether the intended aims has been achieved and identified the challenges that it faced during its introduction.

Design/methodology/approach

Feedback was collected through in-depth qualitative interviews and surveys with frontline (n = 20) and senior staff (n = 19) that were conducted to explore the experiences of a variety of stakeholders within the collaborative.

Findings

Two main themes were identified – the achievement of the key aims and the barriers to success. A thematic analysis has shown that whilst the aim of the PC is well intentioned and is generally welcomed by the multiple stakeholders across the geographical region, it is clear that changes are required in order to ensure the inception of an efficient care service that is able to achieve the ultimate goal of providing the ultimate goal of “right care at the right time”.

Originality/value

This is the first study, to the authors' knowledge, to explore collaborative working in CAMHs services. The study involved staff feedback from Phases 1 and 2 of a 4-years-long evaluation. The findings demonstrate the overall aims are being met as well as identifying areas of concern; this, in turn, allows the authors to develop a series of recommendations to implement and improve collaborative working before assessing their impact in the subsequent phase.

Citation

Fatima, S., Brenisin, K., Doyle, I., Gathii, E. and Breen, K. (2024), "Collaborative care for mental health of children and young people: a qualitative study of the experiences of mental health professionals", International Journal of Health Governance, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 149-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHG-12-2023-0124