Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: A Social Work Perspective on Early Intervention and Prevention

Abstract

Mental disorders in children and adolescence are a significant social health issue in every part of the world, and the significant number of mental conditions developing at an early life phase and continuing into adulthood in case of nonintervention make it a serious social health concern. The situation, especially in the low-and middle-income countries like Pakistan, is especially critical because of the lack of mental health infrastructure, the insufficient capacity of the workforce and the low priorities of child-focused service on psychosocial services in the national health agenda. The Research Objectives of the proposed study will be: To interrogate the current system, scope and provision of child and adolescent mental health services in Punjab, Pakistan and particularly early intervention and preventive social work practices. To determine the essential systemic, professional, and socio-cultural barriers/enabling factors in the implementation of social work-led early intervention and prevention strategies in child and adolescent mental health services in Punjab. The aim of the proposed study is to put forward evidence based strategies that can be strengthened to maximize the role of social work in early identification, prevention and comprehensive service delivery to enhance mental health outcomes in children and adolescents in Punjab, Pakistan. The research design was an interpretivist research, which focuses on the subjective implications and experience of individuals in the child and adolescent mental health services. The research was done in the selected urban and semi-urban districts of Punjab, Pakistan, where there are available, both public and privately available child and adolescent mental health services. The population of the research included social workers, mental health professionals, policymakers, and the representatives of non-governmental organizations that operated in child and adolescent mental health service. Purposive sampling took place to sample people who had the relevant experience and expertise in child and adolescent mental health services. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect the data; and this was to ensure that the data gathered is flexible to enable researcher to consider the experiences of the participants without going out of the research objectives. The conceptual framework and literature review formed an interview guide that was to be used to provide consistency and depth in the series of interviews. A semi-structured interview guide, consisting of open-ended questions regarding the service delivery, early intervention strategies, professional roles, and systemic barriers, was the main data collection instrument. The thematic analysis was applied to analyze data, which was carried out in a systematic way of familiarization, coding, theme development, and interpretation.