Child and adolescent mental health policy: promise to provision.
Mental health policy enables the translation of the knowledge base of 'how' to help children and families into the actual 'provision' of help. Amid competing pressures to leave the allocation of services to the market, policy is required to define needs, select priorities, match resources with need, and to measure what has been accomplished. Crafting policy requires balancing contrasting goals and approaches, here spelled out. Public mental health policy can be compared to other forms of continuous quality improvement (CQI).
Harper
Gordon
G
Child and Adolescent Services, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Gordon_harper@hms.harvard.edu
Cetin
Fusun Cuhadaroglu
FC
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005544:Forecasting; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends*; D006295:Health Resources / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000600:supply & distribution / Q000639:trends