Parent Perspectives on Community Mental Health Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
The community mental health (CMH) system provides treatment for behavioral and psychiatric problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although parent stakeholder perspectives are important to improving care, these perspectives have not been systematically examined for this population in the CMH sector. Twenty-one semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with parents of children with ASD who received services in CMH clinics. Themes related to child clinical histories, service access and experiences with the CMH system revealed a specific trajectory of service need identification, obtaining a diagnosis, and experience with services. Each trajectory stage was marked by high parent stress. Results provide information about the characteristics of children with ASD served in community mental health clinics and direction for targeted improvement efforts.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. Child and Adolescent Services Research Center at Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA.
Lauren
L
Brookman-Frazee
Mary
M
Baker-Ericzén
Nicole
N
Stadnick
Robin
R
Taylor
Autism spectrum disorders; Community mental health services; Parent perspectives