Though continuity of care is associated with improved functioning, reduced health care costs, decreased mortality, and improved quality of life, there is a paucity of research on the implementation and evaluation of interventions to improve continuity of care for youth transitioning out of child and adolescent mental health services. Consequently, clinicians, researchers, and policy makers continue to demand greater understanding of the mental health care transition process and evidence-based resources to support the development and implementation of transition interventions.

Building on previous research led by the Cleverley Lab, this project will develop a transition toolkit to guide interventions and processes to improve continuity of care for young people transitioning out of child and adolescent mental health services. The UNITE toolkit will support the design and implementation of transition programs based on the core components identified in the National Delphi Study. In order to build the toolkit, the study team will engage community partners, including youth and caregivers, to co-design, test, and disseminate the UNITE toolkit.

The final UNITE toolkit will include an open access, plain language downloadable youth mental health transition toolkit and workshop co-developed with community partners to support the integration of core components of successful transitions from CAMHS to AMHS. Dissemination of the toolkit will be supported by a pan-Canadian dissemination strategy in 2023.