I read with particular interest the article in this issue titled “Family and youth mental health needs and outcomes in a navigation service: A retrospective chart review” by Bowles, Markoulakis, Weingust & Levitt. Before reflecting further on this contribution, I paused to wonder if we should resign ourselves to the long-term need for navigators rather than question our persistent tolerance of the Byzantine child mental health service system we have created. That aside, I found it interesting that the authors were able to tease out some patterns related to preferential seeking of assessments and a few broad treatment types for different subgroups. These early identified patterns also prompted me to wonder to what were these young people and their families being navigated. Although a good start, what did the assessments and treatments entail and what positive clinical outcomes were realized? While this paper addresses one link in a chain of steps, its value assumes the accessibility of empirically supported assessments and treatments, both of which are yet in short supply. It will be important for future studies to evaluate the subsequent steps in the service delivery process.
展开▼
