In this day and age why is it still so hard to find the right type of help? Carers’ perspectives regarding child and adolescent mental health services: a qualitative study

Objective: To identify perceptions and experiences of children and young people accessing mental health services in one state in Australia from the perspective of their carer.Method: Semi-structured interviews were employed in this qualitative study with 11 carers of children admitted to a child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and coded. Thematic analysis following the guidelines of Braun and Clarke [(2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. London: Sage] was applied to the interview data. This method of analysis includes: data familiarisation, code generation, theme search, theme review, theme definition and naming and report preparation.Results: Three overarching themes emerged: experiences prior to admission; expectations about admission and the inpatient experience. Contrary to previous research, satisfaction with mental health services was found to be greater in inpatient units. Dissatisfaction with community-based mental health services focussed on poor accessibility, long waiting times, exclusion from therapy sessions and incomplete assessments that often warranted additional specialist intervention. Carers living in country, rural and remote regions of the state were most vocal in dissatisfaction with community-based services.Conclusions: Carer perceptions of the inpatient unit as the most desirable and appropriate form of mental health intervention for their child go against the current shift in treatment focus to provide care in the least restrictive environment, that is the community. This has implications for future service delivery and design and supports research that has highlighted carer satisfaction to being closely linked to factors other than clinical improvement.