Self-isolation during the pandemic has helped keep us safe, but it’s taken a unique toll on children’s mental health. Increased disconnection from friends and social circles, plus instability in school environments, has impacts on critical developmental stages of many young people.
But just how deeply do these effects go? With the help of emergency nurses, the Doan research team at BC Children’s Hospital aims to find out they’ve launched an ongoing study with the goal of understanding and improving the mental health of children and teens using an electronic, clinical assessment tool called MyHEARTSMAP.
The research team has adapted this from HEARTSMAP the standard assessment tool for youth admitted to the hospital’s pediatric emergency department since 2015 and is now using the same criteria to assess the mental health needs of children inside their homes.