Emergency Department Initiated Mental Health Interventions for Young People: A Systematic Review
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Young people (10-24 years old) with mental health concerns are increasingly presenting to hospital emergency departments (EDs). The purpose of this review was to identify the core components and outcomes of mental health interventions for young people that are initiated in the ED, such that they are delivered in the ED and/or by ED health workers.
METHODS: Six electronic databases were systematically searched. Primary peer-reviewed qualitative or quantitative studies describing an ED-initiated mental health intervention for young people published between 2009 and 2020 were included.
RESULTS: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. The included studies demonstrated that compared with traditional ED care, ED-initiated mental health interventions lead to improved efficiency of care and decreased length of stay, and a core component of this care was its delivery by allied health practitioners with mental health expertise. The studies were limited by focusing on service efficiencies rather than patient outcomes. Further limitations were the exclusion of young people with complex mental health needs and/or comorbidities and not measuring long-term positive mental health outcomes, including representations and whether young people were connected with community health services.
CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review demonstrated that ED-initiated mental health interventions result in improved service outcomes, but further innovation and robust evaluation are required.…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Matrisome: In Silico Definition and In Vivo Characterization by Proteomics of Normal and Tumor Extracellular Matrices
- The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities
- In silico pharmacology for drug discovery: methods for virtual ligand screening and profiling
- In silico prediction of splice-altering single nucleotide variants in the human genome
- In silico clinical trials: how computer simulation will transform the biomedical industry
- In silico optimization of a guava antimicrobial peptide enables combinatorial exploration for peptide design
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.