Child mental health services: cultural diversity training and its impact on practice.

We are supportive of the desire to ensure that CAMHS staff provide appropriate care that is tailor made for each child and family they encounter, and would argue that this is a benchmark for quality. It is important to qualify that this is not just a case of giving the consumer what they want, but rather helping families think about the issues they present with, and then arriving collaboratively at a management plan that is coherent to all parties. However, we would be more cautious about what can be achieved through individual strategies such as cultural competence or diversity training, that are not linked to other strategies.

Training CAMHS Professionals in Developing Countries: An Indian Case Study.

This paper presents a rationale for the education of CAMHS staff and service development as a partnership between the UK and developing countries. The local context and background of child and adolescent mental health services in India are described, and the rationale for the teaching principles is outlined. The planning and delivery of the teaching, following these principles, is illustrated through a case study of work in India.

A Triage Clinic in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

Aims: To determine whether non-urgent referrals can be adequately assessed in a triage clinic, to determine the service outcome of these referrals, and whether triage was acceptable to families, referrers and CAMHS clinicians.

Method: Families, CAMHS clinicians and GPs were surveyed to ascertain the acceptability of triage. Non-attendance and outcome of triage were recorded.