Table 7A.
Barriers to mental health care from the perspective of HCPs.
| Barriers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Theme n = number of utterances % of Theme |
Subtheme | Description | HCPs’ utterances n (%) |
|
Factors related to the healthcare systems n = 82 68.3% |
Existence of sufficient services, resources, and HCPs | Lack of services geared towards mental health care in addition to lack of hired HCPs (notably psychologists), and resources unequally distributed across different administrative regions | 31 (37.8) |
| Accessibility to services | Inaccessible services either because of admission criteria, referral issues, non-adapted services for children with disabilities or location | 16 (19.5) | |
| Long waitlists | Long waiting lists for medical appointments across the board leading to delays of care | 13 (15.9) | |
| Communication and collaboration between programs | Refers to a lack of follow-up and communication post-referrals between siloed services | 10 (12.2) | |
| Focus on mental health | Mental health care is not usually a main focus in rehabilitation care settings for example, or it is not addressed first when needed | 8 (9.8) | |
| Accessibility to information, or contacts | Challenges related to accessing information, services or contact within the pediatric care sites (or lack of research in general) | 4 (4.9) | |
| TOTAL | 82 (100) | ||
|
Factors related to caregivers n = 14 11.7% |
Wellbeing | CGs’ mental and physical state impacting their ability to support their children's mental health care | 7 (50) |
| Uninvolved/disengaged | Refers to CGs who are uninvolved and/or disengaged (during medical visits for example) | 5 (35.7) | |
| Previous experiences | CGs with previous negative experiences with HCPs and/or the healthcare system (for example mistrust of social workers) | 2 (14.3) | |
| TOTAL | 14 (100) | ||
|
Factors related to HCPs n = 10 8.3% |
Lack of training and experience | HCP not receiving enough training on mental health related care in general and for children with disabilities | 7 (70) |
| Unclear interdisciplinary boundaries | HCPs who work in interdisciplinary teams often find themselves uncertain as to whom should address certain issues | 2 (20) | |
| High personnel turnover | Loss of personnel in addition to institutional knowledge | 1 (10) | |
| TOTAL | 10 (100) | ||
|
Time limitation n = 8 6.7% |
– | Refers to time limitations during interactions (feeling of being rushed through medical visit or limited appointment time because of ongoing case load of the HCP) | 8 (100) |
| TOTAL | 8 (100) | ||
|
Mental health stigma n = 3 2.5% |
– | Refers to preconceived or stereotypical beliefs about mental health and it's treatment from CGs and/or HCPs | 3 (100) |
| TOTAL | 3 (100) | ||
|
Factors related to patients n = 3 2.5% |
– | Refers to various complications when it comes to providing care for the patients (medication challenges, overlapping diagnoses, overarching sociological barriers) | 3 (100) |
| TOTAL | 3 (100) | ||
| GRAND TOTAL | 120 (100) | ||