Mental Health Care in Pediatric Rehabilitation Hospitals: A Biopsychosocial, Collaborative, and Agency-based Service Integration Approach.

Background

Canadian hospitals are not currently prepared to meet the psychosocial needs of children with disabilities as services are rooted in a biomedical care model.

Objective

To describe a practical and holistic framework for pediatric rehabilitation hospitals to meet the health care needs of children and their families. Method: An environmental scan was conducted of best practice guidelines, policy documents, and models of integrated mental health care. Recommendations from clinical guidelines and national strategy documents were incorporated to develop a service integration approach.

Results

An agency-based approach was used to develop a two-phase biopsychosocial framework. In framework Phase I, reactive care is provided to mental health concerns. In Phase II, there is a shift to proactive care and mental health wellbeing.

Conclusions

Emphasis is placed on capacity building of clinical staff into best practices for mental health care. Implementation needs and consideration for uptake of the framework are also discussed.