What are youth and families saying?

In the first two weeks in our Learning from COVID-19 series we learned how providers are adapting and “breaking the rules” to provide care and about those barriers families and providers are facing during this unprecedented time. The third week of the series asked what are youth and families saying about these changes to the care delivery?

Telehealth has been a helpful option during the pandemic.

• Telehealth has been a wonderful option for my family. Would I want to use it all the time, no. But it sure is nice to have it available. My teenager prefers it to face to face.

• The youth are more involved due to services being provided via electronics.

• Families have reported feeling happier with more overall team engagement. They feel as though more providers are able to attend CPT meetings because it's easier to log in and join a Zoom.

• Clients are more open, excited and more engaged as they interact with me remotely.

Provider’s flexibility and the ability to adapt has been appreciated by families.

• Being more flexible with appointment times and rescheduling when necessary has been appreciated by clients/families.

• I've been scheduling shorter but more frequent check-ins with clients and they appreciate it

However, with almost all aspects of the youth and family life transitioned to online platforms (e.g. therapy, school, work) youth and families are struggling to meet the changing demands.

• Youth are struggling to adjust to the shifting demands. They don't want to be so readily available; they often feel that because it's remote, there is a general expectation that they have to be available at that time. They seem to miss the variety of contacts that they had (i.e in person, phone, on site, off site) and the types of activities in which they could participate.

• Parents feel overwhelmed, like our services are "one more thing" on their list, and are increasingly withdrawing. Kids are less engaged without in-person services.

• My one family case puts a limit to having no more than 3 telehealth sessions in a day due to being overwhelmed by too many video sessions.

Overall, some families and youth appreciate the flexibility of providers and the convenience of telehealth, while others are overwhelmed and frustrated by the experience of remote behavioral health.

• Some families are saying telehealth sessions feels inauthentic and would prefer to meet face to face, others are getting more comfortable as time goes on. Teenagers are enjoying the use of technology, while younger children are not as engaged with telehealth as they were in person.

• Some families love the flexibility and convenience of doing sessions from the home. Other families find technology overwhelming, awkward to be on phone, frustrated with needing to use devices

• Some are more engaged than before, with briefer, but more frequent check-ins via Zoom and/or phone. Other families are more overwhelmed, and disengaging from services, not returning calls.

This week’s resource spotlight: The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health has developed a wealth of COVID-19 resources for youth and families including videos, toolkits, tip-sheets, and guides to use at home.

You can still add your learning to Week 3—just fill out the survey below.