The Surgeon General's National Action Agenda on Children's Mental Health.
The Surgeon General's National Action Agenda highlighted key issues that challenge the public health system in appropriately meeting the mental health needs of children and their families. Among these issues included the need for screening and early identification, improving access to appropriate mental health care, strengthening the infrastructure, and expanding training for providers. Two key gate-keeping systems identified as critical in this reform of mental health care for children and their families are education and primary care. This paper focuses on these two systems to illustrate problems related to these issues. Central to the Surgeon General's call for reform is also the pressing public health responsibility to improve and use the science base by strengthening the connection between what we know from the scientific evidence base and what we do in practice. The implications of this reform for specialty mental health are discussed.
Olin
Su-chin Serene
SC
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 6001 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20892-9630, USA. so74v@nih.gov
Hoagwood
Kimberly
K
D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education; D011634:Public Health; D012572:School Health Services; D014481:United States; D014492:United States Public Health Service