Child Community Mental Health Services in Asia Pacific and Singapore's REACH Model

• Published in: Brain sciences Vol. 7; no. 10; p. 126
• Main Authors: Lim, Choon Guan, Loh, Hannah, Renjan, Vidhya, Tan, Jason, Fung, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.10.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: child psychiatry; Children & youth; community mental health; Health care expenditures; Health services; Mental health; mental health service; school-based mental health; Asia-Pacific region; Singapore; mental health service; school-based mental health; child psychiatry; community mental health
• ISSN: 2076-3425; 2076-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/brainsci7100126

In recent decades, there have been concerted efforts to improve mental health services for youths alongside the challenges of rising healthcare costs and increasing demand for mental health needs. One important phenomenon is the shift from traditional clinic-based care to community-based mental health services to improve accessibility to services and provide patient-centred care. In this article, we discuss the child and adolescent community mental health efforts within the Asia-Pacific region. We also discuss Singapore's community and school-based mental health service, known as the Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH). This article discusses how REACH has evolved over the years in response to the changing needs of youths in Singapore. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future directions for youth mental health care.