Talking 'Bout Better outcomes for Adolescent Depression: Youth and Caregiver Perspectives on an Integrated Care Pathway for Depression

Background Depression is a common condition among adolescents, with rates continuing to rise. A gap exists between evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of depression and clinical practice. Integrated Care Pathways (ICPs) can help address this gap, but to date no study has examined how young people and their caregivers experience ICPs and whether these pathways are an acceptable form of care. This study used focus groups with adolescents, caregivers, and service providers to examine experiences of an ICP. Methods Six individual interviews with service providers, four focus groups with youth, and two focus groups with caregivers were completed. Data was analyzed consistent with Braun & Clarke's Thematic Analysis Framework within an interpretivist paradigm. Results and Conclusion The study demonstrated that ICPs are acceptable to youth and their caregivers and that ICPs facilitate shared decision making between youth/caregivers and care providers. Findings also indicated that youth are willing to engage with ICPs particularly when there is a trusted clinician involved who helps interpret and tailor the ICP to the young person's experience. Further questions include how to best integrate these into the overall system and how to further tailor these pathways to support youth with diagnostic complexity and treatment resistance.