Abstract
Objective:
Child and adolescents who are suffering from pychological problems should be admitted to an inpatient unit if they can not be managed at outpatient or day clinic settings. In this paper, we aimed to overwiev the latest litreature about the inpatient child and adolescent mental health services which are very common treatment alternatives in Western countries but unfortunately has not been developed enough in our country.
Method:
We reviewed the research and review papers especially from European countries which were generally limited in number.
Results:
Inpatient services provide a containing, understanding and caring setting for child and adolescents in which they may find a chance to work therapeutically about their problems. The experience of a treatment in an inpatient unit not only can heal symptomatically but also can have a positive impact on personality development and self esteem.
Discussion:
The number of child and adolescent mental health inpatient units are limited in number in Turkey. In our country, covering all means of mental health, starting from preventive through inpatient services, we need to have a nationwide mental health strategy which is framed by a national mental health law that enables enough funds for investments in this field.
Keywords: Child and adolescent mental health, in-patient treatment, milieu therapy
