Using Advocacy to Address the Crisis of Children's Mental Health

Authors

Laura Willing, Children's National Hospital and George Washington University School of Medicine, 6833 4th Street NW Washington, DC 20012, USA. Electronic address: lwilling@childrensnational.org.
Justin Schreiber, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Western Psychiatric Hospital, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Lawrenceville Medical Building, 4117 Penn Avenue, 3rd Floor- 3111, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

7-1-2024

Journal

Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America

Volume

33

Issue

3

DOI

10.1016/j.chc.2024.03.003

Keywords

Advocacy; Advocacy education; Child and adolescent psychiatrists; Health policy; Legislative advocacy; Pediatric mental health; Regulatory advocacy

Abstract

Children and youth in the United States are experiencing a mental health crisis that predates the COVID-19 pandemic. Child and adolescent psychiatrists have the knowledge and skillset to advocate for improving the pediatric mental health care system at the local, state, and federal levels. Child psychiatrists can use their knowledge and expertise to advocate legislatively or through regulatory advocacy to improve access to mental health care for youth. Further, including advocacy education in psychiatry and child psychiatry graduate medical education would help empower child psychiatrists to make an impact through their advocacy efforts.

APA Citation

Willing, Laura and Schreiber, Justin, "Using Advocacy to Address the Crisis of Children's Mental Health" (2024). GW Authored Works. Paper 5385.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/5385

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences