Consensus on Access to Mental Health Services by Children and Adolescents in Antioquia, Colombia

Few mental health studies have explored the prevalence of disorders, risk factors, and availability of services in Antioquia, especially in urban children and adolescent populations. However, access studies have never been developed. Despite growing interest in access, researchers, bureaucrats and interest groups have not come to any consensus about which specific factors may be considered in order to improve access for children and adolescents, especially in provinces with high levels of violence, displacement and inequality. This thesis aims to generate such a consensus among a diverse group of mental health stakeholders around Antioquia. Consensus suggests that predisposing, enabling, need and behaviour factors simultaneously influence access. Additionally, social capital is the resource upon which several mental health programs focus for the development and promotion of mental health services. Finally, stakeholders have identified effectiveness criteria that should be used to evaluate their efficacy as a network in order to improve their work.MAS