Child and adolescent mental health service, Terengganu, Malaysia: how we are thinking about making a difference.

Abstract

To effectively deliver child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) services in resource-constrained settings, it is vital to be smart in utilizing such resources efficiently, and this requires strategic planning. Of paramount importance is in-service training of primary care professionals aimed to consolidate existing knowledge and employ evidence-based strategies to manage child mental health care and to successfully integrate further these services into other mainstream healthcare facilities. The implementation of CAMH services in Terengganu has served to facilitate numerous improvements such as promoting and increasing awareness of young people with mental health problems within their general practices. Furthermore, planning and implementing fully integrated child mental health service in Terengganu and the East Coast of Malaysia has served to enhance our understanding and yielded valuable insights which include: