Survey to understand stakeholders’ perception of Quality of care for child, adolescent and youth mental healthcare across the WHO European Region

.For French stakeholders in mental health, prevention and social care, this article offers avenues to question the quality of services with young people and their carers: accessibility, safety of care, information, quality of relationships and participation in decisions. It can inform team reflection or help prepare a local consultation. However, it does not describe the French situation: only one respondent resides in France, no minors were directly interviewed and the results are not representative. Its interest is therefore to open dialogue on the expectations of those concerned, not to provide a diagnosis of French services or directly applicable recommendations (p. 2-7).

1️⃣ SUMMARY

The WHO Regional Office for Europe conducted an online survey from 17 October 2023, including a pilot phase, to 10 April 2024, in order to gather perceptions of the quality of mental health care for children, adolescents and young people. The 302 participants, from 40 countries, were all at least 18 years old and had first-hand experience of these services: 50 identified as young users, 71 as caregivers, 170 as health professionals and 34 as other stakeholders, with multiple affiliations possible. No minors were directly surveyed. The responses particularly highlight useful, appropriate and safe care, information enabling help-seeking, accessibility, youth participation and the skills of professionals. The study is exploratory and its results are not generalizable to national populations or to the entire WHO European Region (p. 1-3, 6).

2️⃣ KEY TAKEAWAYS

1️⃣ Components of a quality service (survey result). Safe treatment (73 %), information on where to obtain services (73 %), easy access (73 %) and involvement of the young person in directing their care (70 %) rank highest. Robust data collection is the least cited (26 %) (p. 4, figure 2).

2️⃣ Factors with the most influence (survey result). Staff training (82 %), access to a wide range of professionals (72 %), welcoming environment (66 %). Burnout and quality-focused leadership receive less consensus (47 % each) (p. 5, figure 3).

3️⃣ Differences in perception according to groups. In their discussion, the authors particularly highlight the welcoming environment for young people, the ability of professionals to build a strong relationship with caregivers, and the availability of diverse professionals among caregivers. These elements summarise several findings and do not constitute a ranking of priorities established by the participants. The involvement of families is emphasised by caregivers, but is not systematically recognised by young people as a component of quality care (p. 6-7).

3️⃣ TO ACT

The document is an exploratory research article, not an operational guide. It nonetheless reveals implications for practice: strengthening a youth-centred approach, promoting their participation in decisions, examining the role of families and caregivers, offering various safe treatment options, and supporting professionals. These directions need to be further explored through additional research and must be compared with other sources before being translated into operational recommendations (p. 6-7).

1️⃣ Existing tool cited. The complete questionnaire is published in supplementary material online (p. 2 ; unverified access). It has not been assessed for validity or reliability (p. 6). Health Practices Suggestion: use it as inspiration to gather the views of young people and caregivers at the local level.

2️⃣ Consult the published standards, distinguishing the chronology of sources. The article presents its results as a contribution to a next step in the development of quality standards by WHO Europe. However, the official WHO page indicates that the "Quality standards for child and youth mental health services: for use in specialized community or outpatient care across the WHO European Region" were published on 13 March 2025. The provided document does not specify how this publication relates to the subsequent step mentioned by the authors. Health Practices Suggestion: consult these standards in addition to the survey, without presenting their initial publication as still forthcoming (p. 7 ; external source: WHO Europe).

3️⃣ Action requested by the document. The authors request further research, particularly with decision-makers and service managers, who were absent from the survey, and on the best way to involve young people in the design and delivery of care (p. 6-7). This avenue is primarily aimed at research.

4️⃣ 3 PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

1️⃣ According to the young people surveyed, what weighs most on the quality of their care?

The training of staff (82 %), a welcoming environment (80 %) and the level of resources (88 %) (p. 5). As components of a quality service, they first cite safe treatment (80 %) and information on where to obtain services (74 %) (p. 4).

2️⃣ What importance do the young respondents give to the involvement of families and carers?

In the question regarding past experiences, the article reports that 28% of young people highlighted the significant involvement of carers among the factors associated with quality care. The authors note that this dimension, emphasised by the carers, is not systematically acknowledged by the young people. This result does not directly measure their desire regarding the involvement of their own family and does not mean that they oppose it. The authors call for further research to determine if this observation is found in other populations (p. 3, 6-7).

3️⃣ Do these results apply to France?

These results cannot be generalised to France. The survey has only one respondent in France and the authors specify that the sample is not representative of either the national populations or the WHO European Region. The results may inform local reflection or consultation, but do not describe the expectations of young people, carers or French professionals (p. 3, 6).

5️⃣ TO GO FURTHER

1️⃣ Blog Health Practices. “Promoting good mental health in children and young adults” ( summary of 11 practices identified by the OECD. Link. Link identified by a search engine; automated access blocked by the site: existence and date to be verified manually before dissemination. Consulted on 7 November 2026.

2️⃣ External resource (external source, WHO Europe). Quality standards for child and youth mental health services: for use in specialized community or outpatient care across the WHO European Region, 13 March 2025, 29 pages, in English (other language versions not verified). Standards for specialized outpatient and community care. Link. URL verified, consulted on 7 November 2026.

6️⃣ #️⃣ HASHTAGS

#healthpractices #YouthMentalHealth #QualityOfCare #WHOEurope #YouthParticipation #Carers #LivedExperience #PersonCentredCare

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