-
Accessible services. Services that are affordable, located nearby, and open
during evenings and weekends. Staff is sensitive to and incorporates
individual and cultural values. Staff is also sensitive to barriers that
may keep a person from getting help. For example, an adolescent may be
more willing to attend a support group meeting in a church or club near
home than to travel to a mental health center. An accessible service
can handle consumer demand without placing people on a long waiting list.
-
Accuracy. The proportion of correct test
results.
-
Apparent prevalence. An estimate of the proportion
of disorders in a population based on the test results.
-
Appropriate services. Designed to meet the specific needs of each individual
child and family. For example, one family may need day treatment,
while another may need home-based services. Appropriate services
for one child and family may not be appropriate for another.
Appropriate services usually are provided in the child's community.
-
Assessment. A professional review of child and family needs that is
done when services are first sought from a caregiver. The
assessment of the child includes a review of physical and mental health,
intelligence, school performance, family situation, and behavior in the
community. The assessment identifies the strengths of the child and
family. Together, the caregiver and family decide what kind of
treatment and supports, if any, are needed.
-
Bias. Systematic deviation from true clinical
measurement.
-
Caregiver. A person who has special training to help people with
mental health problems. Examples include social workers, teachers,
psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians and mentors.
-
Case manager. An individual who organizes and coordinates services and
supports for children with mental health problems and their families. (Alternate terms. service coordinator, advocate, and facilitator.)
-
Case management. A service that helps people arrange for appropriate
services and supports. A case manager coordinates mental
health, social work, educational, health, vocational, transportation,
advocacy, respite care, and recreational services, as needed. The case manager makes sure that the changing needs of the child and
family are met. (This definition does not apply to managed care.)
-
Child protective services. Designed to safeguard the child when abuse, neglect, or
abandonment is suspected, or when there is no family to take care of the
child. Examples of help delivered in the home include financial
assistance, vocational training, homemaker services, and daycare. If
in-home supports are insufficient, the child may be removed from the home
on a temporary or permanent basis. Ideally, the goal is to keep the
child with the family whenever possible.
-
Children and adolescents at risk for mental health
problems. Children are at greater risk for developing mental health
problems when certain factors occur in their lives or environments.
Factors include physical abuse, emotional abuse or neglect, harmful stress,
discrimination, poverty, loss of a loved one, frequent relocation, alcohol
and other drug use, trauma, and exposure to violence.
-
Continuum of care. A term that implies a progression of services that a child
moves through, usually one service at a time. More recently, it has come
to mean comprehensive services. Also see system of care and
wraparound services.
-
Coordinated services. Child-serving organizations talk with the family and agree
upon a plan of care that meets the child's needs. These
organizations can include mental health, education, juvenile justice, and
child welfare. Case management is necessary to coordinate
services. Also see family-centered services and wraparound
services.
-
Crisis residential treatment services. Short-term, round-the-clock help provided in a non-hospital
setting during a crisis. For example, when a child becomes aggressive and
uncontrollable, despite in-home supports, a parent can temporarily place
the child in a crisis residential treatment service. The purposes
of this care are to avoid inpatient hospitalization, help stabilize the
child, and determine the next appropriate step.
-
Criterion. The criteria established for
assessing the true disorder status in a test evaluation (also called the
gold standard).
-
Cultural competence. Help that is sensitive and responsive to cultural
differences. Caregivers are aware of the impact of culture and
possess skills to help provide services that respond appropriately to a
person's unique cultural differences, including race and ethnicity,
national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or physical
disability. They also adapt their skills to fit a family's values
and customs.
-
Day treatment. Day treatment includes special education,
counseling, parent training, vocational training, skill building, crisis
intervention, and recreational therapy. It lasts at least 4 hours a day. Day treatment
programs work in conjunction with mental health, recreation, and education
organizations and may even be provided by them.
-
Diagnostic test. Results of a questionnaire
used to determine the presence of a disorder.
-
DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition). An official manual of mental health problems developed by
the American Psychiatric Association. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social
workers, and other health and mental health care providers use this
reference book to understand and diagnose mental health problems.
Insurance companies and health care providers also use the terms and
explanations in this book when discussing mental health problems.
-
Gold standard. The method for assessing the
true disorder status in a test evaluation.
-
Early intervention. A process used to recognize warning signs for mental
health problems and to take early action against factors that put
individuals at risk. Early intervention can help children get better
in less time and can prevent problems from becoming worse.
-
Emergency and crisis services. A group of services that is available 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, to help during a mental health emergency. Examples include
telephone crisis hotlines, suicide hotlines, crisis counseling, crisis
residential treatment services, crisis outreach teams, and crisis respite
care.
-
Family-centered services. Help designed to meet the specific needs of each
individual child and family. Children and families should not be expected
to fit into services that do not meet their needs. Also see
appropriate services, coordinated services, wraparound services, and cultural competence.
-
Family support services. Help designed to keep the family together, while coping
with mental health problems that affect them. These services may include
consumer information workshops, in-home supports, family therapy,
parenting training, crisis services, and respite care.
-
Home-based services. Help provided in a family's home either for a defined
period of time or for as long as it takes to deal with a mental health
problem. Examples include parent training, counseling, and working with
family members to identify, find, or provide other necessary help. The
goal is to prevent the child from being placed outside of the home. (Alternate term. in-home supports).
-
Independent living services. Support for a young person living on his or her own. These
services include therapeutic group homes, supervised apartment
living, and job placement. Services teach youth how to handle
financial, medical, housing, transportation, and other daily living needs,
as well as how to get along with others.
-
Individualized services. Services designed to meet the unique needs of each child
and family. Services are individualized when the caregivers pay
attention to the needs and strengths, ages, and stages of development of
the child and individual family members. Also see appropriate services
and family-centered services.
-
Inpatient hospitalization. Mental health treatment provided in a hospital setting 24
hours a day. Inpatient hospitalization provides. (1)
short-term treatment in cases where a child is in crisis and possibly a
danger to his/herself or others, and (2) diagnosis and treatment when the
patient cannot be evaluated or treated appropriately in an outpatient
setting.
-
Managed care. A way to supervise the delivery of health care services. Managed care may specify which caregivers
the insured family can see and may also limit the number of visits and kinds
of services that are covered by insurance.
-
Mental health. How a person thinks, feels, and acts when faced with
life's situations. Mental health is how people look at
themselves, their lives, and the other people in their lives; evaluate
their challenges and problems; and explore choices. This includes
handling stress, relating to other people, and making decisions.
-
Mental health problems. Mental health problems are real. They affect one's
thoughts, body, feelings, and behavior. Mental health problems are not
just a passing phase. They can be severe, seriously interfere with a
person's life, and even cause a person to become disabled. Mental
health problems include depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive
illness), attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders,
eating disorders, schizophrenia, and conduct disorder.
-
Mental disorders. Another term used for mental health problems.
-
Mental illnesses. This term is usually used to
refer to severe mental health problems in children, adolescents or adults.
-
Negative predictive value. The likelihood that a
person with a negative test result truly does not have the disorder.
-
Plan of care. A
treatment plan especially designed for each child and family, based on
individual strengths and needs. The caregiver(s)
develop the plan with input from the family. The plan establishes
goals and details appropriate treatment and services to meet the special
needs of the child and family.
-
Positive predictive value. The likelihood that a
person with a positive test result truly does have the disorder.
-
Post-test probability. The probability that an
individual has a disorder after the test has been applied.
-
Pre-test probability. The probability that an
individual has a disorder before the test has been applied.
-
Precision. The degree of fluctuation of repeated
tests based on the same sample around central measurement.
-
Residential treatment centers. Facilities that provide treatment 24 hours a day and can
usually serve more than 12 young people at a time. Children with
serious emotional disturbances receive constant supervision and care. Treatment may include individual, group, and family therapy; behavior
therapy; special education; recreation therapy; and medical services. Residential treatment is usually more long-term than inpatient
hospitalization. Centers are also known as therapeutic group
homes.
-
Respite care. A service that provides a break for parents who have a
child with a serious emotional disturbance. Trained parents or
counselors take care of the child for a brief period of time to give
families relief from the strain of caring for the child. This type of care
can be provided in the home or in another location. Some parents may
need this help every week.
-
Screening test. A test which is applied to
people from a population without prior clinical investigation. A
screening test is designed to identify potential problems for further
clinical investigation. A screening test is not designed to evaluate or
diagnosis a disorder or problem.
-
Sensitivity. The proportion of people with a
disorder in which the test is able to correctly classify as having the
disorder.
-
Specificity. The proportion of people without a
disorder in which the test is able to correctly classify as not having the
disorder.
-
Serious emotional disturbances. Diagnosable disorders in children and adolescents that
severely disrupt their daily functioning in the home, school, or
community. Serious emotional disturbances affect one in 10 young people.
These disorders include depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity, anxiety
disorders, conduct disorder, and eating disorders.
-
Service. A type of support or clinical intervention designed to
address the specific mental health needs of a child and his or her family. A service could be provided only one time or repeated over a course of time,
as determined by the child, family, and service provider.
-
True prevalence. The true portion of disorder in the
population based on the “gold standard”.
