Leong Scholar explores the quality of virtual mental health care for youth and young adults
Erica Wennberg is a Leong Scholar completing her PhD through the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Astrid Guttmann, a general paediatrician and Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children. Erica provides a summary of her thesis project.
My thesis project aims to explore the quality of virtual mental health care for youth and young adults through a combination of quantitative research using health administrative databases and qualitative research. The project is composed of three papers focused on different aspects of quality: accessibility and equity, safety and effectiveness, and patient-centredness and equity.
For my first paper, I am conducting a population-based study of youth and young adults in Ontario whose first medical contact for self-harm, a mood disorder, or psychosis was through an emergency department visit or hospital admission. Using an interrupted time series approach, I am analyzing whether virtual care had an impact on mental health follow-up rates in this population. I am also examining whether our findings differ among youth living in rural versus urban areas, and across youth living in neighborhoods with different levels of material resources. Preliminary results have been submitted for presentation at an international conference.
My second paper focuses on the same population, but I am using causal inference methods to estimate the effect of virtual compared to in-person follow-up on a group of outcomes that reflect safety and effectiveness of follow-up care: returning to the emergency department, hospital admission, and death. We are in the process of creating the dataset for this project.
For my third paper, I am leading a qualitative evidence synthesis of research on the quality of virtual mental health care for youth and young adults from the perspectives of patients and health care providers. Our synthesis will have a health equity focus to explore differences in perspectives. The review is underway, and we are in the process of engaging a youth advisory council to provide guidance in the qualitative synthesis process. The Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Children’s Community Engagement Consultation Service and seminar series, led by Dr. Priscilla Medeiros, have been of extreme value to me in learning best practices for community-engaged research and in developing my youth engagement strategy.
Virtual care became highly prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic and its use is likely to continue, particularly for mental health care. However, there are important knowledge gaps surrounding the quality of care it offers to youth. The overarching goal of my research is to guide decision-making regarding the future role of virtual care in the mental health care of youth and young adults. I am very grateful to the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Children for their support of my work and training, and I look forward to continuing my project!
