New study looks to improve emergency health care for youth and young adults in Alberta

Calgary mom Shirley Bates describes the experience as “awful.” Her 17-year-old daughter was in crisis, experiencing symptoms related to post-traumatic stress, but when they sought help at a Calgary emergency department, they were told all the psychiatry beds were full.

“Because there was no beds available, my daughter had to be left in the emergency unit over 24 hours,” Bates said.  “Having to go home in the middle of the night and leave her in an emergency unit that wasn’t a secure facility gave me great concern.”

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According to the Centre for Mental Health and Addictions five per cent of all emergency department visits in 2012 for children and youth in Canada were for a mental disorder.

“Emergency departments are being accessed more and more for these issues as the years go on because people are becoming better at identifying these situations and then figuring out that they need to seek help,” said Dr. Frank MacMaster, the senior director of the Addictions and Mental Health Strategic Clinical Network for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute.

MacMaster said this is why his team is currently studying how emergency mental health care is provided and looking at where improvements can be made.

 “In a survey, we’re asking [young people] about their experiences — what lead them to go to the ER, what care are they hoping for, what care did they receive and what happened afterward.”

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The research team will be collecting survey responses from either Alberta youth and young adults aged 15 – 24 or their caregivers until Friday, Sept. 29.  MacMaster said he hopes the information collected will help improve care not only within Alberta, but across the country.

“This will end up providing a lot of vital information, not just to Alberta Health Services but also to other jurisdictions around the world.”

The surveys can be accessed online at Survey.ahs.ca/KidsYouth and Survey.ahs.ca/FamilyCaregiver.