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Background: Practitioners who support unaccompanied minors (UAMs) come from different professional backgrounds and often are not appropriately trained to address children's complex mental health needs. This gap informed a training programme across all accommodation centres in Greece. Methods: The aim of the Train-of-Trainer (ToT) national programme was to upskill trainers from 17 organisations to cascade knowledge. Training was interprofessional, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive. A pilot implementation involved 199 practitioners from all disciplines. A sub-sample of 33 practitioners, nine managers and six trainers shared their experiences in focus group discussions, which were analysed through a thematic framework. Results: Participants found that the programme was useful in generating knowledge relevant to children's needs and their roles, addressing the emotional impact of trauma on staff, sharing learning across professional disciplines and being interactive, but systemic support should be put in place for benefits to be sustained. Conclusions: Train-of-Trainer is a resource-effective approach to upskill mixed staff groups across many organisations. This should involve caregivers and staff with limited educational opportunities, while accommodating for different professional needs. Training should be integrated to service budgets, specifications and structures. Plain language summary: Staff who support refugee children without parents come from different backgrounds, and often have limited mental health knowledge and skills. To address this gap, a national programme was established for 17 organisations hosting accommodation centres across Greece. Selected professionals were upskilled as trainers to cascade knowledge to their staff group. Training was based on the understanding of the impact of trauma and children's cultural needs and was provided to interdisciplinary staff groups. In total, 199 staff attended pilot training. Experiences of the training were shared by a sub-group of 33 trained staff, nine managers and six trainers through focus group discussions. These were analysed through a qualitative thematic approach. Key findings included the relevance of new knowledge to children's needs and staff roles, training as a team, using learning methods based on real issues, and supports that should be put in place to ensure that benefits are maintained. Such a model of cascading knowledge and skills can be useful for large numbers of organisations and staff supporting refugee and other vulnerable children. Training should include staff such as caregivers, who may have had limited educational opportunities, while balancing between different staff roles. Training should be integral to all functions of accommodation centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technology offers opportunities for child mental health capacity building, which is a priority for Majority World Countries (MWC). The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of professionals from different disciplines in Turkey (n =12) and Pakistan (n =15), who had completed a two-module digital trauma-informed programme on enhancing practice skills and instigating systemic changes. Interview data were analysed through a coding thematic approach. Participants especially valued the interdisciplinary and holistic approach of the training, and its proposed scaled service model. Digital training, particularly in blended format, can enhance reach and capacity in MWC low-resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been increasing attention on the impact of risk and resilience factors on refugee children's mental health, there has been limited evidence on the role of parental factors to inform interventions, and this predominantly relies on adult reports. The aim was to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting styles and attachment relationships and child mental health, as reported by 322 Syrian refugee minors aged between 8 and 17 years in Turkey. Child-rated scales included the Children Revised Impact of Event Scale–8 (CRIES-8), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Security Scale and Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran for Children (EMBU-C), and were used as measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general mental health problems, attachment relationships and perceived parenting styles, respectively. Children with secure maternal and paternal attachment perceived their parents as less rejecting, while children with secure paternal attachment also reported their parents as emotionally warmer. Attachment relationships significantly contributed in predicting PTSD after controlling for age and gender, while conduct problems were predicted by lack of emotional warmth, rejection and over-protection by both parents, in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Refugee children's views are essential in establishing their needs and planning interventions. These should address both the impact of trauma and current family relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in public care and other vulnerable young groups (homeless, adopted, refugees) are increasingly becoming the focus of policy and service planning. There is strong evidence that all these client populations have high rates of mental health problems which are closely associated with other needs. We also have good knowledge on the factors that predispose individuals to and maintain mental health problems, as well as on the reasons for their not easily accessing and engaging with services. There is less evidence on the effectiveness of interventions or service models, although some interesting patterns are beginning to emerge. These include the need for inter-agency commissioning, clear care pathways, designated provision, applied therapeutic interventions, training for carers and frontline practitioners, and multi modal programmes. This paper discusses these issues, as well as ways forward, both for systems with relatively well developed child mental health services and for low-income countries. Service quality can be greatly strengthened by international collaboration on policy, practice and research networks, training and research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the use of the terms culture and cultural competence, including the evaluation of child and adolescent mental health services to diverse population groups. The evidence on cultural diversity education is explored, which is considered as a potential intervention alongside workforce issues and quality improvement strategies.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term impact of two types of family support services (FSS) for children with behavioural problems (N = 51 and 49 respectively). These were compared with children (N = 40) matched for presenting problems and referred to specialist CAMHS in a locality without FSS. Pre and postintervention measures were the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOSCA), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and a service utilization checklist. Although all three groups were associated with decrease of child behavioural scores, the two family support services provided an earlier response and resulted in significantly higher reduction of HoNOSCA and SDQ scores. The two FSS types implemented different `levels' of interventions, as FSS- B resulted in a more favourable short-term outcome and appeared to operate more closely to specialist services, while FSS-A appeared to adopt a more preventive role. Family support services have an important role within a comprehensive child mental health service, but the specificity of their interventions for different target client groups requires further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with behavioural problems are often referred to child mental health services without rationalization of criteria or referral routes. The aims of the present study were to establish the psychosocial characteristics of children with behavioural problems referred to a tertiary Day Resource, and to compare these with children referred for similar problems to a specialist outpatient child mental health service and a family support community service. Demographic data, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Health of the Nations Outcome scales for Children and Adolescents were used. Families attending the Day Resource were found to have more involvement with other agencies, and children showed higher levels of clinical severity and complexity. Most of this difference was accounted for by attentional difficulties, as well as communication and physical health problems. These findings confirmed the hypothesis that families seen at tertiary service level presented with more complex psychosocial needs and frequent child comorbidity, thereby justifying the multimodal treatment package developed at that service level. It is concluded that there is a need for this level of parenting interventions, but only for complex cases that have not responded to community interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mental health team for looked after children, and the evaluation of its first phase are presented. The team combines primary mental health worker, psychology and psychiatry skills. It offers telephone and face-to-face consultation to local authority staff, assessment, treatment and training. Forty-five children and their carers, who consecutively attended the service, were independently assessed by a researcher at the time of referral and at five-month follow-up. Outcome measures included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) and a service satisfaction questionnaire. At 5 months, children had significantly improved on a number of HoNOSCA scales, and on the emotional SDQ scales. Carers perceived the interventions as targeting different aspects of the child's functioning, but wished they were more involved in decision-making. Carets and children were generally positive about their clinical contact. The findings are discussed in the context of developing mental health services for vulnerable children and young people, and interagency partnership. KEYWORDS care; children; looked after; mental health; service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development of the primary mental health worker (PMHW) role within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) within the UK, and focuses on services in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, an area with a general population of 900,000. The concept behind thc PMHW role is described and the application of this to practice is outlined. The role consists of consultation, liaison, direct work and training. The described primary mental health team comprises 13 PMHWs and is an integral part of a comprehensive CAMHS. Its aim is to support and enable primary care professionals in their work with mental health issues in children and families, thus promoting early recognition and management of child mental health problems and filtering appropriate referrals for specialist CAMHS intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inter-agency training programme in child and adolescent mental health for primary care staff has been developed in a UK area serving a general population of 900 000. This was initiated with a training needs and resources analysis across all the joint strategy partners (three local authorities, one health authority and the voluntary sector). Training is provided to inter-agency groups of professionals in 12 localities. To date, 150 staff have been through the two-day introductory/foundation course, which is complemented by three subsequent training days on the assessment and management of children and families. Staff evaluation ratings are presented. On the whole, primary healthcare staff rated their awareness of mental health issues and their knowledge of staff roles within child mental health services significantly higher, in contrast with education staff who rated these components lower. Inter-agency training has been achieved with some difficulties needing to be overcome, but the participants' feedback indicates that the expected output is beginning to be realized. The implications of the project are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in care constitute a deprived and needy group of young people, who are at high risk of developing mental-health problems and disorders. This article describes the development of a direct access child and adolescent mental-health service for children living in residential units or with foster families, with data on the pattern and characteristics of referrals, and discussion on the arising difficulties. The main aims of this service are, to be responsive and flexible, to provide mental-health assessment and treatment, and to work with residential care staff, foster parents and field social workers. Young people referred to the mental-health service had high rates of abuse, history of offending behaviour, poor school attendance and frequent previous contacts with child mental-health services. There were also high rates of child mental-health disorders, particularly mixed conduct and depressive disorders, and history of self-harm. Anticipated benefits include a coordinated and cost-effective assessment, improved mental-health outcome, contribution to the care plan and prevention of further difficulties. Joint commissioning between health and local authorities should prioritize children in care. Different models of mental-health provision may be appropriate and require evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT) appears to have considerable value in the treatment of childhood depression. Its key components are self-monitoring, social problem-solving and cognitive restructuring. Such a treatment programme was compared with a non-focused control intervention (NFI) in 57 outpatient children and adolescents with depression. Both groups improved significantly on depressive and anxiety symptoms, self-esteem and social functioning, with the majority of children (87 percent of CBT subjects and 75 percent of controls) no longer being clinically depressed. Non-specific psychotherapeutic elements such as empathy, sympathetic listening, reassurance, reinforcement and indirect ways of achieving self-understanding and problem-solving may be involved in the recovery. In out-patient settings, we recommend that social problem-solving and cognitive restructuring be introduced during the first two to three sessions, which may help the young person gain self-control relatively early and engage more with the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]