Experiences and satisfaction with intensive community care services for children and adolescents with severe mental health disorders: a mixed-methods systematic review
5 affiliations
- 1East London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
- 2Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- 3University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
- 4London South Bank University, London, UK
- 5Institute of Mental Health, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv, Ukraine
Abstract
Intensive community care services (ICCS) are community-based alternatives to inpatient care for young people with severe mental health disorders. This systematic review investigated the experiences and satisfaction associated with ICCS. Nine electronic databases were searched from inception to August 2025 for studies on children and adolescents under 18 years receiving mental health care from ICCS. Primary outcomes were experiences and satisfaction from the young people, parents, or clinicians. Quantitative satisfaction data were qualitised before integrating with qualitative data. The synthesis used a meta-aggregative approach to produce statements to inform practice. Nine studies from eight articles were included: two qualitative, three mixed-methods, and four quantitative studies. No studies examining clinician experiences were identified. Positive experiences were generated when ICCS: (a) provide structured emotional and practical support to caregivers; (b) facilitate strong therapeutic relationships across the young person-family-clinician system through frequent, flexible, and community-based contact; (c) offer multidisciplinary expertise and specialist interventions; (d) support sustained improvements beyond treatment by embedding therapeutic work in real-world contexts; (e) actively manage extra-therapeutic factors and family involvement to avoid undermining young people’s autonomy or sense of agency. Parents were particularly satisfied with ICCS due to accessibility, responsiveness, intensity of contact, and reduced hospitalisation. ICCS models successfully generate positive experiences in service users. Satisfaction was generally higher than routine care and particularly pronounced amongst parents. Future studies should explore staff perspectives and specific elements of satisfaction. These findings have implications for service design, workforce training, and balancing family involvement with young people’s autonomy.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03147-8.
Related
- Relational care in community mental health: Evaluating staff experiences in Intensive Community Care Services (ICCS) vs treatment as usual
- Psychoeducational interventions for children and adolescents with potentially traumatic experiences: a systematic review Intervenciones psicoeducactivas para niños y adolescentes con experiencias potencialmente traumáticas: una revisión sistemática
- Virtual reality-based therapeutic intervention to prevent delirium in the intensive care unit: a systematic review of participant experiences, acceptability, and implementation implications.
- Lived experiences, barriers, and facilitators of voluntary non-suicidal self-injury disclosure among adolescents who have disclosed: a qualitative systematic review protocol
- The lived experiences of primary caregivers supporting adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury: a qualitative systematic review and meta-aggregation
BibTeX
@article{wong2026experiences,
title = {{Experiences and satisfaction with intensive community care services for children and adolescents with severe mental health disorders: a mixed-methods systematic review}},
author = {Ben Hoi-Ching Wong and Jasmine Burrage and Mona Albazi and Priya Hornby and Opeyemi Atanda and Dennis Ougrin},
journal = {European Child \& Adolescent Psychiatry},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1007/s00787-026-03147-8},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03147-8},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Experiences and satisfaction with intensive community care services for children and adolescents with severe mental health disorders: a mixed-methods systematic review
AU - Ben Hoi-Ching Wong
AU - Jasmine Burrage
AU - Mona Albazi
AU - Priya Hornby
AU - Opeyemi Atanda
AU - Dennis Ougrin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/13
JO - European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
DO - 10.1007/s00787-026-03147-8
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03147-8
AB - Intensive community care services (ICCS) are community-based alternatives to inpatient care for young people with severe mental health disorders. This systematic review investigated the experiences and satisfaction associated with ICCS. Nine electronic databases were searched from inception to August 2025 for studies on children and adolescents under 18 years receiving mental health care from ICCS. Primary outcomes were experiences and satisfaction from the young people, parents, or clinicians. Quantitative satisfaction data were qualitised before integrating with qualitative data. The synthesis used a meta-aggregative approach to produce statements to inform practice. Nine studies from eight articles were included: two qualitative, three mixed-methods, and four quantitative studies. No studies examining clinician experiences were identified. Positive experiences were generated when ICCS: (a) provide structured emotional and practical support to caregivers; (b) facilitate strong therapeutic relationships across the young person-family-clinician system through frequent, flexible, and community-based contact; (c) offer multidisciplinary expertise and specialist interventions; (d) support sustained improvements beyond treatment by embedding therapeutic work in real-world contexts; (e) actively manage extra-therapeutic factors and family involvement to avoid undermining young people’s autonomy or sense of agency. Parents were particularly satisfied with ICCS due to accessibility, responsiveness, intensity of contact, and reduced hospitalisation. ICCS models successfully generate positive experiences in service users. Satisfaction was generally higher than routine care and particularly pronounced amongst parents. Future studies should explore staff perspectives and specific elements of satisfaction. These findings have implications for service design, workforce training, and balancing family involvement with young people’s autonomy. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03147-8.
SN - 1018-8827
SN - 1435-165X
ER -