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PurposeThe presence of distinct child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and adult mental health services (AMHS) impacts continuity of mental health treatment for young people. However, we do not know the extent of discontinuity of care in Europe nor the effects of discontinuity on the mental health of young people. Current research is limited, as the majority of existing studies are retrospective, based on small samples or used non-standardised information from medical records. The MILESTONE prospective cohort study aims to examine associations between service use, mental health and other outcomes over 24 months, using information from self, parent and clinician reports.ParticipantsSeven hundred sixty-three young people from 39 CAMHS in 8 European countries, their parents and CAMHS clinicians who completed interviews and online questionnaires and were followed up for 2 years after reaching the upper age limit of the CAMHS they receive treatment at.Findings to dateThis cohort profile describes the baseline characteristics of the MILESTONE cohort. The mental health of young people reaching the upper age limit of their CAMHS varied greatly in type and severity: 32.8% of young people reported clinical levels of self-reported problems and 18.6% were rated to be ‘markedly ill’, ‘severely ill’ or ‘among the most extremely ill’ by their clinician. Fifty-seven per cent of young people reported psychotropic medication use in the previous half year.Future plansAnalysis of longitudinal data from the MILESTONE cohort will be used to assess relationships between the demographic and clinical characteristics of young people reaching the upper age limit of their CAMHS and the type of care the young person uses over the next 2 years, such as whether the young person transitions to AMHS. At 2 years follow-up, the mental health outcomes of young people following different care pathways will be compared.Trial registration numberNCT03013595., publishedVersion

Background: Transitioning from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) raises novel ethical aspects for healthcare professionals, as well as for young people, their parents and carers. Method: Focus groups were conducted in Croatia, Ireland and the United Kingdom with youth mental health groups and youth representatives with no mental health (MH) remit. One hundred and eleven participants, aged from 16 to 60 years, contributed to discussions. Results: Perpetuation of stigma, autonomy and decision-making were central themes as both enablers and deterrents of successful transition. The tension between professional (and at times parental) paternalism and young persons' growing autonomy was well captured in the themes; (a) desired practice, (b) who should decide, (c) the process of decision-making and (d) potential harm(s). Conclusions: This study provides insight into the ethical values, particularly autonomy and collaboratively working, which people expect to underpin the transition between CAMHS and AMHS. Key Practitioner Message: Engaging young people early in making decisions about their future care can enhance trust between practitioner and the young person. In addition to diagnosis, a number of factors (such as moving home; waiting lists and stigma) may need to be taken into account when considering the direction of future health care. When possible, alternatives to AMHS should be considered if considered by the young person to be a less-stigmatising treatment option.

The majority of adolescents with mental health problems do not experience continuity of care when they reach the transition boundary of their child and adolescent mental health service. One of the obstacles for a smooth transition to adult mental health services concerns the lack of training for health-care professionals involved in the transition process. This study aims to seek psychiatric trainees' opinions regarding training on transition and the knowledge and skills required for managing transition. A survey was distributed to trainees residing in European countries. Trainees from 36 countries completed the questionnaire, of which 63% reported that they came into contact with youth and young adults (16-26 years) during their clinical practice. Twenty-seven percent of trainees stated they have good to very good knowledge about the transition process. Theoretical training about transition was reported in only 17% of the countries, and practical training in 28% of the countries. Ninety-four percent of trainees indicated that further training about transition is necessary. The content of subsequent transition-related training can be guided by the findings of the MILESTONE project. ispartof: EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY vol:29 issue:1 pages:41-49 ispartof: location:Germany status: published

Background Profound clinical, conceptual and ideological differences between child and adult mental health service models contribute to transition-related discontinuity of care. Many of these may be related to psychiatry training. Methods A systematic review on General Adult Psychiatry (GAP) and Child and Adult Psychiatry (CAP) training in Europe, with a particular focus on transition as a theme in GAP and CAP training. Results Thirty-four full-papers, six abstracts and seven additional full text documents were identified. Important variations between countries were found across several domains including assessment of trainees, clinical and educational supervision, psychotherapy training and continuing medical education. Three models of training were identified: i) a generalist common training programme; ii) totally separate training programmes; iii) mixed types. Only two national training programs (UK and Ireland) were identified to have addressed transition as a topic, both involving CAP exclusively. Conclusion Three models of training in GAP and CAP across Europe are identified, suggesting that the harmonization is not yet realised and a possible barrier to improving transitional care. Training in transition has only recently been considered. It is timely, topical and important to develop evidence-based training approaches on transitional care across Europe into both CAP and GAP training. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-019-1576-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background\ud \ud Young people (age 16-25 years) with long term health conditions tend to disengage from health services resulting in poor health outcomes. They are prolific users of digital communications. Innovative UK National Health Service (NHS) clinicians use digital communication with these young people. The NHS plans to use digital communication with patients more widely.\ud \ud Objectives\ud \ud To explore how health care engagement can be improved using digital clinical communication; understand effects, impacts, costs and necessary safeguards; provide critical analysis of its use, monitoring and evaluation.\ud \ud Design\ud \ud Observational mixed methods case studies; systematic scoping literature reviews; assessment of patient reported outcome measures; public and patient involvement (PPI); consensus development through focus groups.\ud \ud Setting\ud \ud Twenty NHS specialist clinical teams from across England and Wales, providing care for 13 different long term physical or mental health conditions. \ud \ud Participants\ud \ud 165 young people aged 16-25 years living with a long term health condition; 13 parents; 173 clinical team members; 16 Information Governance Specialists.\ud \ud Interventions\ud \ud Clinical teams and young people variously used: mobile phone calls, text messages, email, Voice over Internet Protocol. \ud \ud Main outcome measures\ud \ud Empirical work: \ud \ud Thematic and ethical analysis of qualitative data; annual direct costs; Did Not Attend, Accident and Emergency Attendance and Hospital Admissions rates plus clinic specific clinical outcomes. Scoping reviews: patient, health professional and service delivery outcomes and technical problems. Patient reported outcome measures: scale validity, relevance and credibility.\ud \ud Data sources\ud \ud Observation, interview, structured survey, routinely collected data, focus groups, peer reviewed publications.\ud \ud Results\ud \ud Digital communication enables access for young people to the right clinician when it makes a difference for managing their health condition. This is valued as additional to traditional clinic appointments. This access challenges the nature and boundaries of therapeutic relationships but can improve them, increase patient empowerment and enhance activation. Risks include increased dependence on clinicians, inadvertent disclosure of confidential information and communication failures, but clinicians and young people mitigate these risks. Workload increases, and staff time is the main cost. Clinical teams had not evaluated impact of their intervention, and analysis of routinely collected data did not identify any impact. There are no currently used generic outcome measures but the Patient Activation Measure and the Physician Humanistic Behaviour Questionnaire are promising. Scoping reviews suggest digital clinical communication is acceptable to young people but with no clear evidence of benefit except for mental health.\ud \ud Limitations \ud \ud Qualitative data was mostly from clinician enthusiasts. No interviews were achieved with young people who do not attend clinics. Clinicians struggled to estimate workload. Only eight full sets of routine data were available.\ud \ud Conclusions \ud \ud Timely digital clinical communication is perceived as making a difference to health care and health outcome for young people with long term conditions but this is not supported by evidence that measures health outcome. Such communication is challenging and costly to provide but valued by young people.\ud \ud

International audience; INTRODUCTION: Disruption of care during transition from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adult mental health services may adversely affect the health and well-being of service users. The MILESTONE (Managing the Link and Strengthening Transition from Child to Adult Mental Healthcare) study evaluates the longitudinal course and outcomes of adolescents approaching the transition boundary (TB) of their CAMHS and determines the effectiveness of the model of managed transition in improving outcomes, compared with usual care. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a cohort study with a nested cluster randomised controlled trial. Recruited CAMHS have been randomised to provide either (1) managed transition using the Transition Readiness and Appropriateness Measure score summary as a decision aid, or (2) usual care for young people reaching the TB. Participants are young people within 1 year of reaching the TB of their CAMHS in eight European countries; one parent/carer and a CAMHS clinician for each recruited young person; and adult mental health clinician or other community-based care provider, if young person transitions. The primary outcome is Health of the Nation Outcome Scale for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) measuring health and social functioning at 15 months postintervention. The secondary outcomes include mental health, quality of life, transition experience and healthcare usage assessed at 9, 15 and 24 months postintervention. With a mean cluster size of 21, a total of 840 participants randomised in a 1:2 intervention to control are required, providing 89% power to detect a difference in HoNOSCA score of 0.30 SD. The addition of 210 recruits for the cohort study ensures sufficient power for studying predictors, resulting in 1050 participants and an approximate 1:3 randomisation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study protocol was approved by the UK National Research Ethics Service (15/WM/0052) and equivalent ethics boards in participating countries. Results will be reported at conferences, in peer-reviewed publications and to all relevant stakeholder groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN83240263; NCT03013595 (pre-results).

Aim:\ud \ud In a context of international concern about early adult mental health service provision, this study identifies characteristics and service outcomes of young people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) reaching the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) transition boundary in Ireland.\ud \ud Methods:\ud \ud The iTRACK study invited all 60 CAMHS teams in Ireland to participate; 8 teams retrospectively identified clinical case files for 62 eligible young people reaching the CAMHS transition boundary in all four Health Service Executive Regions. A secondary case note analysis identified characteristics, co-morbidities, referral and service outcomes for iTRACK cases with ADHD (n = 20).\ud \ud Results:\ud \ud Two-thirds of young people with ADHD were on psychotropic medication and half had mental health co-morbidities, yet none was directly transferred to public adult mental health services (AMHS) at the transition boundary. Nearly half were retained in CAMHS, for an average of over a year; most either disengaged from services (40%) and/or actively refused transfer to AMHS (35%) at or after the transition boundary. There was a perception by CAMHS clinicians that adult services did not accept ADHD cases or lacked relevant service/expertise.\ud \ud Conclusions:\ud \ud Despite high rates of medication use and comorbid mental health difficulties, there appears to be a complete absence of referral to publically available adult mental health services for ADHD youth transitioning from CAMHS in Ireland. More understanding of obstacles and optimum service configuration is essential to ensure that care is both available and accessible to young people with ADHD.