The project was commissioned by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to facilitate a five-year study to gauge opportunities for children and teens at the local level in communities across the U.S.
Highlighted below are three findings from the 2014 National Voices Project survey.
1. In 2014, roughly 40 percent of adults said teens in their communities had an abundance of availability to mental healthcare. In comparison, 59 percent of adults in 2014 said that teens had lots of availability for primary care, and only 30 percent of adults reported lots of availability to mental healthcare in 2012.
2. In communities where respondents perceived some or many racial or ethnic inequities, just 35 percent of adults saw lots of availability for teens to get mental healthcare in 2014, up from 24 percent in 2012.
3. In the communities with few or no racial or ethnic inequities, 54 percent of adults perceived lots of availability for mental health care for teens, an improvement from 39 percent in 2012.
“The good news is that adults are seeing improvements in access for teens in their communities in comparison with 2012,” said Matthew M. Davis, MD, director of the National Voices Project and professor of pediatrics, internal medicine, public policy, and health management and policy at the University of Michigan. “However, the bad news is that they are still seeing significant disparities in healthcare access for teens in communities where they perceive racial and ethnic inequities.”
Given how common mental health concerns are among adolescents, Dr. Davis argued improving access to behavioral services is as important as enhancing access to primary care.
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