Parents' satisfaction with child psychiatry

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Healthcare Services Research
• Parental Experience Studies

Background:

• Effective social and healthcare services are crucial for families, especially during reforms impacting child psychiatric care.
• Incorporating parental perspectives is vital for successful reforms in child mental health services.
• Understanding parental satisfaction is key to evaluating and improving child psychiatric clinics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore parental satisfaction with a child psychiatric clinic in southern Finland.
• To gather parental feedback on their experiences during clinic visits.
• To identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement in child psychiatric services from a parent's viewpoint.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire with 12 Likert scale questions assessed single visit experiences.
• 168 responses were collected from parents and other caregivers.
• Qualitative content analysis was used for open-ended questions, alongside nonparametric statistical analysis for Likert scale data.

Main Results:

• Respondents, primarily mothers (54%) and fathers (18%), reported overall satisfaction with their clinic visit.
• Parental relationship to the child sometimes influenced the perceived success of the visit.
• No significant differences in experience were found between first-time and returning visitors, or based on concurrent visits.

Conclusions:

• Despite some variations in experience, parents were generally satisfied and found visits beneficial.
• The speed and availability of care, along with staff skills, were highly valued.
• A key area for development is providing clearer information about visit duration at the outset.