Mental health screening in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children: screening tool selection and feasibility in the UK National Health Service.

Abstract

There has been an increasing number of applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in the United Kingdom in recent years. It is well-known that this population is at high-risk of developing mental health disorders, which require early detection and intervention to facilitate successful integration. This paper describes the introduction of mental health screening for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in a National Health Service (NHS) outpatient clinic in central London. This follows the results of a two-year retrospective analysis of the health needs of the population in our clinic, which identified a high incidence of disturbance to mood and sleep. We describe the selection process for a culturally appropriate and validated screening tool, piloting the Refugee Health Screener (RHS) tool with 20 UASC in clinic, and using preliminary findings to inform a more targeted referral to community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). We conclude that implementation of the RHS-13 is feasible for widespread mental health screening for UASC in an NHS setting, and provide suggestions for future research directions within this field.