Impact of Ed-LinQ: A Public Policy Strategy to Facilitate Engagement between Schools and the Mental Health Care System in Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Ed-LinQ is a mental health policy initiative to enhance the early detection and treatment of children with mental illness by improving the liaison between schools and health services in Queensland, Australia. We measured its impact from policy to practice to inform further program developments and public strategies. We followed a mixed quantitative/qualitative approach. The Adoption Impact Ladder (AIL) was used to analyse the adoption of this initiative by end-users (decision makers both in the health and education sectors) and the penetration of the initiative in the school sector. Survey respondents included representatives of schools (n = 186) and mental health providers (n = 78). In total, 63% of the school representative respondents were at least aware of the existence of the Ed-LinQ initiative, 74% were satisfied with the initiative and 28% of the respondent schools adopted the initiative to a significant extent. Adoption was higher in urban districts and in the health sector. The overall level of penetration in the school sector of Queensland was low (3%). The qualitative analysis indicated an improvement in the referral and communication processes between schools and the health sectors and the importance of funding in the implementation of the initiative. Mapping of existing programs is needed to assess the implementation of a new one as well as the design of different implementation strategies for urban and rural areas. Assessing the adoption of health policy strategies and their penetration in a target audience is critical to understand their proportional impacts across a defined ecosystem and constitutes a necessary preliminary step for the evaluation of their quality and efficiency.

Clarifying terminology and definitions in education services for mental health users: A disambiguation study

“…As mentioned above, this issue is relevant for many service sectors including the education sector and has been highlighted in previous studies focusing on school-based mental health interventions among other [ 16 , 17 ]. This issue was also raised in the impact analysis of the EdLINQ program for improving liaison between school services and child and adolescent mental health care in Queensland, Australia [ 18 ].…”

No service is an island: towards an ecosystem approach to mental health service evaluation

“…This should not be limited to end‐point re­sults on individuals. Major attention should be paid to the process of implementation and the analysis of the readiness, usability, adoption and penetration of a new service in real world environments 8 . The emphasis on fidelity should be balanced with the need for adaptation to local con­texts 9 .…”