Child and adolescent mental health: infrastructure, policies and practices in England: the CAMHEE project
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jpmh.2010.0161 |
| Published date | 14 April 2010 |
| Pages | 26-39 |
| Date | 14 April 2010 |
| Author | Rachel Jenkins,Howard Meltzer,Brian Jacobs,David McDaid |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
26 journal of public mental health
vol 9 • issue 1
© Pier Professional Ltd, 2010
10.5042/jpmh.2010.0161
Key words:
Child and adolescent
mental health;
England;
policy;
health promotion
which ha s devolved respo nsibility for he alth care
to admin istrations in Sc otland, Northern Ireland
and Wales, data were colle cted on the situation in
England alone. The pa per draws on t hese data to
reflect on developments in England.
Background: the state of child mental
health in England
We examined what d ata are available on both the
preva lence of mental illnesse s and i ndicators of
mental well-being in children and young people. In
respect o f mental illness, much data are available
from the Brit ish P sychia tric Morbid ity S urvey
Programm e, which co mprises a se ries of nat ional
surveys co nducted across Gre at Britain (Englan d,
Scotland and Wales) since 1993 (Jenkins et al, 2009).
There have been two specialist surveys of children and
adolescents, conducted through schools, and based on
interviews with children, parents and teachers. The
The European Union-supported Child
and Adolescent M ental Health in an
Enlarged Europe (CAM HEE) project
was a mult icou ntry , mu ltip artn er
pro ject th at aime d to pr ovid e a n
overvi ew of the challenges, current pr actice and
guidelines for developing effective mental health
promo tion and mental i llness pr evention policy
and practice for this age group. On e aspect of this
work was to collat e infor mation on the state o f
current policy and practice rele vant to chil d and
adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), with
a specific focus on mental health promotion as well
as ill ness preve ntion, acro ss a range of Europea n
countries. A bespoke quest ionnaire was iteratively
developed by a working group of multisectoral and
multidisciplinary experts within the project for this
purpo se. Data were th en subse quently collected
by country corr espondents. In the case of the UK,
ANALYSIS
Rachel Jenkins
Director, World Health
Organization Collaborating
Centre, Institute of Psychiatry,
King’s College London, UK
Howard Meltzer
Professor of Mental Health
and Disability, University of
Leicester, UK
Brian Jacobs
Consultant Psychiatrist, South
London and Maudsley NHS
Trust and Honorary Senior
Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry,
King’s College London, UK
David McDaid
Research Fellow in Health
Policy and Economics LSE
Health and Social Care and
European Observatory on
Health Systems and Policies,
London School of Economics
and Political Science, UK
Correspondence to:
Rachel Jenkins
Director, World Health
Organization Collaborating
Centre
PO35
David Goldberg Centre,
Institute of Psychiatry
King’s College London
De Crespigny Park
London SE5 8AF
UK
The E urope an Un ion-s uppor ted Chi ld an d Adole scent Ment al He alth in an Enla rged Europe
(CAMHEE) project aimed to provide an overview of the challenges, current practice and guidelines
for developing effective mental health promotion and mental illness prevention policy and practice
across Europe. As part of this work, an analysis was under taken of the situation in England, making
use of a bespoke data colle ction instrument and protocol.
Our a nalysis su ggests th at there has been significan t effor t and investment in research, needs
assessment, policy, human resource and service d evelopments in C AMHS over the l ast 20 years,
leading to a more detailed understanding and availab ility of services. Much of t he emphas is has
been on assessment and management of difficultie s, however in recent years attention has begun
to focu s on mental hea lth pro motion. National st andards and pr ogramm es such as Ever y Child
Matte rs ( Depar tment for Education and Skills, 2004) have acte d as catalysts for a numbe r of
national initia tives.
Child and adolescent mental
health: infrastructure, policies
and practices in England: the
CAMHEE project
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