YOUTHS' ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: A CAREER AWARD

描述（申请人摘要）： 关于青年人获得心理健康服务的知识尚不发达， 国家重要的问题，将影响青年服务的方式 资助和提供。这项研究职业建议涉及青年进入 和途径，通过心理健康服务提供的专业和 非专业部门（精神卫生、公共卫生、儿童福利、青少年 司法、教育、毒品和酒精）。到目前为止，服务研究已经 忽视了社会工作者和非专业心理健康的作用 专业人员提供心理健康服务。K 02奖将 让斯蒂夫曼博士有时间在她以前的工作基础上，增加广度， 在这一领域的重大贡献。这项研究将测试假设 从正在进行的研究中获得数据，并解决提供更好的 在多个服务部门获得精神卫生服务。 这些假设涉及服务接入、网关提供商的作用以及 医疗补助/管理式护理： 1.青少年使用服务解决其精神健康问题取决于： 他们的需要，他们的倾向性特征，和服务使能 特点; 2.确定青年人获得精神健康问题服务的机会 通过：网关提供商认为他们的需要;以及这些网关提供商的 资源、服务联系和服务知识; 3.专业精神卫生服务的使用与以下因素呈正相关： 医疗补助和管理式医疗的可获得性和可报销性 服务 本研究还将探讨服务获取问题， 然而，已知的框架特定的假设，但这是重要的，以改善 获得和提供服务。在K 02期间，探索性分析将有助于 将这些作为新研究的假设：1。什么是多部门 服务的配置及其补充或补充 关系？2.）问题持久性与服务的关系是什么 随着时间的推移，配置会发生变化吗？和; 3.）障碍之间的关系是什么 （将随时间变化）到服务配置的变化？

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): Knowledge of youths' access to mental health services is an underdeveloped, but nationally important, issue that will impact the way youths' services are funded and provided. This research career proposal addresses youths' entry into and pathways through mental health services provided by both specialty and nonspecialty sectors (mental health, public health, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and drug and alcohol). To date, services research has neglected the role of social workers and nonspecialty mental health professionals in the provision of mental health services. A K02 Award will allow Dr. Stiffman the time to build upon her previous work, adding breadth to its significant contributions in this area. The research will test hypotheses with data from ongoing studies and address knowledge needed to provide better access to mental health services in multiple service sectors. The hypotheses relate to service access; the role of the gateway provider, and Medicaid/managed care: 1. Youths' use of services for their mental heath problems is determined by: their need, their predisposing characteristics, and service enabling characteristics; 2. Youths' access to services for their mental health problems is determined by: their need as perceived by gateway providers; and those gateway providers' resources, service connections, and service knowledge; 3. The use of specialty mental health services is positively associated with the availability and accessibility of Medicaid and managed care reimbursed services. This study will also explore service access questions about which too little is yet known to frame specific hypotheses, but which are important to improving access and delivery of services. During the K02, exploratory analyses will help frame these as hypotheses for new studies: 1.) What are the multisector configurations of services and their complementary or supplementary relationships?; 2.) What is the relationship of problem persistence to service configuration change over time? and; 3.) What is the relationship of barriers (which will change over time) to changes in service configurations?