Previously submitted to: JMIR Mental Health (no longer under consideration since Apr 03, 2024)
Date Submitted: Apr 3, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 3, 2024 - Apr 3, 2024
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Mental health services for children and adolescents: gap-analysis of key digital navigation tools in ACT
ABSTRACT
Background:
A recent strategy to improve access to mental health services is the development of service navigation tools, particularly digital, to help match consumer needs with service availability. Service directories provide key information for navigation tools. However, their fitness for purpose is reliant on the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the services they include.
Objective:
To compare the comprehensiveness and accuracy of three key online service navigation tools (digital service directories) for child and adolescent mental health services in Australian Capital Territory (ACT) with that of the Description and Evaluation of ServicEs and Directories (DESDE) service directory.
Methods:
The 2023 DESDE directory was developed by our research team. Services are identified using a systematic and iterative search using local expert knowledge and a web search. All service listings for child and adolescent mental health care in ACT in the national digital directories “Head to Health” and “Healthdirect”, the ACT digital directory “MindMap”, and the DESDE Directory were counted and each directory analysed according to the comprehensiveness of its listings when compared to the total number of services identified by all four directories as available; and also to the accuracy of services listed in each directory according to target population and geographic location.
Results:
All three key national and regional digital directories had significant limitations, both in comprehensiveness of service coverage and in the accuracy of target population and geographic location of services, when compared to the DESDE Directory.
Conclusions:
Currently available key digital directories for child and adolescent mental health services in ACT lack comprehensiveness and accuracy as tools for system navigation, significantly limiting their usefulness in reducing barriers to access to care and a potential cause of confusion. For planners, the absence of comprehensive service information limits their usefulness in identifying gaps in availability and guiding service planning.
Citation
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