Improving transitions in care for children and youth with mental health concerns: implementation and evaluation of an emergency department mental health clinical pathway

Emergency departments (EDs) are often the first access point for children and youth seeking mental health (MH) and addiction care. However, many EDs are unprepared to manage large volumes of pediatric MH patients. In addition, the fragmented Canadian MH system is challenged in connecting youth seen in the ED for follow-up community services. A provincial Emergency Department Mental Health Clinical Pathway (EDMHCP) for children and youth presenting to the ED with MH concerns was developed to address these challenges. The objective of the current study was to determine if EDMHCP implementation resulted in: (1) pathway use, (2) more patients discharged with MH recommendations, (3) MH service recommendations that aligned with patients’ risk assessments, and (4) changes in service outcomes, including ED length of stay (LOS), revisits, and admissions/transfers.