Title : Quality improvement project: Social supports screening of the adolescent population in the inpatient psychiatric hospital
Abstract:
Background: Adolescent mental health is a public health concern, with social support playing a crucial role in preventing psychiatric hospitalization. Existing literature emphasizes the importance of assessing social support to enhance coping mechanisms and resilience in adolescents.
Problem Statement: There is a lack of standardized social support screening tools for adolescents within psychiatric settings. This hinders healthcare providers' ability to identify social support deficits and tailor interventions for patients.
Rationale: Social support screening can address this problem by assisting providers in assessing adolescents' support networks, correlating these with mental health status, and identifying areas for intervention.
Participants: Patients 12-18 years old admitted to an urban Midwestern inpatient psychiatric unit were invited to complete a screening tool as part of their admission.
Methods: Data collection utilized the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and collected demographic information including age, ethnicity, and gender identity. Discharge Resource toolkits were provided and reviewed with families and surveys were completed by nursing staff.
Findings: Over six weeks, 56 MSPSS tools and 26 toolkit surveys were completed. Low social support was identified in 12% of females, 100% of transgender patients had low to medium support, and family related questions on MSPSS tools scored the lowest.
Conclusion: A breakdown in family communication, adolescents’ difficulty in expressing emotions, and lack of resources were contributing factors leading to perceived lack of social support. Recommendations include family therapy and emotional expression education.
Implications: Integrating social support screening within the admission process facilitates identification and timely intervention to address deficits.
Audience Take Away:
- Audience will be able to understand the importance of social support in relation to a patient’s admittance to the psychiatric unit.
- This presentation will enable the audience to inquire about a deficit in social support for their patients and determine if there is a need that should be addressed while in the hospital.
- Audience will learn that this project can be implemented on many different units with patients across the lifespan to improve understanding of admitting diagnosis and tailor interventions to their needs.
