Infant and Early Mental Health Care Pathways
Key Points
- IEMH Care Pathways leverage community strengths to develop equitable care pathways for families and practitioners to easily navigate to, through, and out of services.
- Accessing appropriate services in a timely and efficient manner regardless of where they access services within the community can improve well-being outcomes.
- Consistent developmental screening and early intervention, for children birth to six with infant and early mental health concerns can provide early intervention and treatment.
Welcome to the Infant and Early Mental Health Care Pathways initiative! In Canada, the journey to finding timely support for children from birth to six facing developmental challenges can often be unclear and challenging. The absence of navigable systems of care pathways for infant and early mental health (IEMH) means that many children may not receive the support they need until they enter the school system. Our initiative seeks to address this gap by creating clear pathways to ensure timely and appropriate support for children facing IEMH concerns. The IEMH Care Pathways Brief provides information on the background, research, and evaluation for this initiative.
- Developing and implementing aspirational IEMH Care Pathways
- Transforming mental health in the early years with integrated care
- Strengthening the implementation of culturally-safe interventions for diverse populations
- Catalyzing interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaborations
- Building and fostering implementation science research and knowledge mobilization
- Ensuring meaningful representation and participation of individuals who have historically faced barriers in research
The initiative is expected to be completed within 2-3 years, with community partners remaining engaged throughout. The journey map below outlines the phases of the IEMH Care Pathways initiative:
Below are examples of IEMH Care Pathway maps created by different communities. These maps illustrate the aspirational journey for infants and young children facing mental health challenges to, through, and out of services to encourage timely access to support and interventions.
**Please note that these maps are drafts and are subject to refinement based on ongoing community feedback.**
With financial support from the Mental Health in the Early Years Implementation Science grant by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), this project is led by a collaboration between IEMHP, The Hospital for Sick Children and:
Dr. James Reynolds’ team at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON
The Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Would you like to learn more and get involved in the IEMH Care Pathways initiative? Contact us at iemhp.mail@sickkids.ca today.
