An Approach to Providing Timely Mental Health Services to Diverse Youth Populations.

Importance: Accessing mental health care is challenging for youths, especially those facing intersectional disadvantages, but whether enhancing youth services increases reach and timeliness has rarely been investigated. ACCESS Open Minds (ACCESS-OM) transformed services at urban, rural, and Indigenous sites in Canada using 5 principles (early identification, rapid access, appropriate care, no age-based transitions from 11-25 years, and youth and family engagement).

Objective: To evaluate whether the number of youths referred (hypothesis 1), offered evaluation appointments within 72 hours of referral (hypothesis 2), and receiving services within 30 days of the first appointment (hypothesis 3) increased over the course of ACCESS-OM's implementation.

Climate emergency, young people and mental health: time for justice and health professional action.

Climate change is driving a public mental health crisis that disproportionately, and unjustly, affects the world's young people. Despite the growing evidence for harm to the next generation, the medical community has largely been hesitant to take the next step and act on the evidence. We propose that the medical community has a responsibility to do more.