Precision child and youth mental health refers
to care tailored for each individual
rather than the current one size fits all approach.
I often get asked, well,
don't doctors already customize mental health
treatment to the person they're treating?
Yes, that's true, but you may not know that.
Traditional treatment methods only provide a doctor
with a small number of factors to consider like
symptoms, age and sex.
But precision child
and youth mental health care differs from traditional
treatment in that with new technology,
we now can gather lots of information on individuals.
For example, we can look at their genes, their gut bacteria,
brain function, diet, sleep,
and whether their environments are safe
and healthy, all of which affect mental health.
An easy way to think of it is
that we can measure in mental health now things from the DNA
code to the postal code.
Precision child and youth mental health aims
to provide unique care for unique kids every time.