For professionals

Referrals

Children are generally admitted to the Child Psychiatry Program through a planned admission process. Beds are allotted by region, based on population. The admission process is coordinated through MCFD Regional Coordinators in consultation with the Child Psychiatry Unit’s intake social worker.
 
Children who are referred often have complex problems and all community mental health resources have been exhausted without any significant improvement. Common diagnoses include ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety difficulties, attachment disorders, encopresis /enuresis, autistic spectrum disorders, and depression. Children with severe intellectual handicaps or who are severely autistic are not accepted into the program.
 
The unit currently has a waiting list. Waiting times vary according to region.
 
Research, teaching and outreach programs
 
In addition to assessment and intervention, the Child Psychiatry Inpatient Unit provides education and outreach as well as participating in research. As the only specialized child psychiatry inpatient unit in BC, we provide practicum placements and supervision to a variety of students including psychiatric residents, students in the allied professions, and nursing and youth and family counseling students.
The child psychiatrists may also participate in outreach consultation by traveling to different regions of the province to provide psychiatric assessments and referrals.
 
The unit participates in research, including a pre-admission pilot project, research on children who witness violence, a study of narratives with children with psychiatric diagnosis, and a patient satisfaction survey and six-week post discharge follow-up study.