Youth Descriptions of Mental Health Needs and Experiences with School-based Services: Identifying Ways to Meet the Needs of Underserved Adolescents

While schools serve as a common entry point into mental health services for underserved youth, engagement of students in need of care remains a problem. Little is known about the ways schools can best address students' mental health needs, especially from the perspective of youth who struggle t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2017, Vol.28 (3), p.1191-1207
Main Authors: DeFosset, Amelia R, Gase, Lauren N, Ijadi-Maghsoodi, Roya, Kuo, Tony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
African Americans
At risk populations
Child
Data processing
Efficacy
Female
Health needs
Health problems
Health Services Needs and Demand
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Interpersonal relations
Interviews as Topic
Low income groups
Male
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - ethnology
Mental health
Mental health services
Mental Health Services - organization & administration
Minority & ethnic groups
Multiple symptoms
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - ethnology
Qualitative analysis
School Health Services - organization & administration
Schools
Student health services
Students
Symptoms
Teenagers
Trajectories
Truancy
Underserved populations
Youth
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Summary:While schools serve as a common entry point into mental health services for underserved youth, engagement of students in need of care remains a problem. Little is known about the ways schools can best address students' mental health needs, especially from the perspective of youth who struggle to attend school, a vulnerable group with a high burden of mental health problems. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyze data from in-depth interviews with a sample of 18 youth with a history of school truancy and mental health problems. Analyses explored how youth expressed mental health symptoms, and their trajectories through, and perceptions of, school-based mental health services. Results suggest that participants experienced multiple, overlapping symptoms; only a portion had their needs addressed. The quality of relationships with school staff and the perceived efficacy of treatment affected service trajectories. Promising school-based approaches to address students' mental health needs are discussed.
ISSN:1049-2089
1548-6869
1548-6869
DOI:10.1353/hpu.2017.0105