Emergency Department Handbook

This practical handbook covers everything a practitioner needs to know about dealing with children and adolescents who present in an emergency department with mental health problems. It provides an easily accessible framework of knowledge on child and adolescent mental health, with comprehensive, easy-to follow guidance.

The book includes contributions from professionals across a range of disciplines: paediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, liaison psychiatry, emergency medicine, and social care. The authors clarify the roles and responsibilities of every professional involved in the care of young patients and their families in a very vulnerable and potentially frightening situation.

The subjects covered include:

Understanding child and adolescent mental health problems.

Their social and developmental contexts.

The management of common mental health problems in this age group.

Carrying out balanced risk assessments.

Liaison with social services and the role of other agencies.

The legal context.

Confidentiality and child protection.

Diversity issues.

~ Highly Commended in the Psychiatry category of the 2010 BMA Medical Book Awards. ~

Readership

The book is intended for psychiatrists at all levels dealing with young people, paediatricians and emergency department clinicians, teachers and trainers, and the heads of department, managers and commissioners who work together to provide effective and efficient services to meet the needs of this under-served client group.