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Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents pp 1–15Cite as

Gaps Between Knowledge, Services, and Needs

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Part of the book series: Mental Health and Illness Worldwide ((MHIW))

Abstract

Child and adolescent mental disorders are prevalent and impairing conditions with low rates of treatment. Even though there are a variety of evidence-based interventions to treat mental disorders, several barriers prevent children and adolescents from receiving mental health care. Gaps between knowledge, services, and needs could be considered the main reason behind this problem. In this chapter, we discuss how traditional and innovative strategies could help tackle this challenge. Epidemiology is an indispensable tool to assess needs for child and adolescent mental health care and help plan services. Active screening in multiple contexts using different approaches can assist in detecting cases. But a continuum of mental health care, from traditional interventions to innovative treatments delivered by digital technology and a variety of professionals, is needed to meet the demand. To translate knowledge into action, sufficient financial investments must be made to implement policies with the potential to reduce the treatment gap. New research will be needed to test the efficacy of innovative strategies and measure the impact of child and adolescent mental health-care policies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil

    Daniel Fatori & Guilherme V. Polanczyk

Authors
  1. Daniel Fatori
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  2. Guilherme V. Polanczyk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guilherme V. Polanczyk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Eric Taylor

  2. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F. C. Verhulst

  3. National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    John Wong

  4. Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

    Keiko Yoshida

  5. King's College London, London, UK

    Anula Nikapota

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F Verhulst

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Fatori, D., Polanczyk, G.V. (2020). Gaps Between Knowledge, Services, and Needs. In: Taylor, E., Verhulst, F., Wong, J., Yoshida, K., Nikapota, A. (eds) Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_10-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_10-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

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