Marie Roder says having continuous care through her teens and early 20s was critical as she struggled with psychosis and suicidal ideation, starting from age 15.Teens with severe mental illnesses have better mental-health outcomes when they receive primary care from the same doctor as they transition to adulthood, Ontario researchers have found.
Typically by 18, teens reach the cut-off age for many of the community services that were available to them as children, and those who received primary care from pediatricians are transferred to family doctors. The researchers found 5,478, or 65 per cent of patients had continuous primary care during the transition age of 17 to 18. Another 2,391, or 28 per cent, had discontinuous primary care, and 540, or 6 per cent, had no primary care. After accounting for various factors, such as how often patients were hospitalized prior to transition, they found teens who had no primary care or discontinuous primary care between the ages of 17 and 18 had higher rates of mental health-related hospital admissions.
At age 34, Ms. Roder, who has schizophrenia, is only now transitioning from the care of her CAMH team to a family doctor.