This webinar was recorded on 14th May 2025
Speaker:
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Caroline Hynes, Advanced Specialist Pharmacist | St John of God Hospital, Honorary Clinical Lecturer | RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Adjunct Lecturer/Associate Professor | University College Dublin
Resources:
Presentation Slides: Available Here
Website: https://youthmed.info/
Summary:
In this webinar pharmacist Caroline Hynes discussed the prescribing practices in Ireland for children and adolescents managing mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis, ADHD, and eating disorders. The webinar provided an overview of the prevalence and impact of mental health conditions and flagged the increase in prescribing in younger patients. The webinar also highlighted the importance of careful medication management, including appropriate prescribing practices, monitoring for side effects and physical health monitoring. Concerns regarding under-recognition of conditions, and the importance of incorporating pharmacists into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) were addressed. The need for tailored approaches that consider individual circumstances, particularly the developmental context of children and adolescents was considered, in addition to general prescribing information for many individual medicines. The importance of early intervention was outlined as were the principles of prescribing in children. The webinar signposted to medicines information resources, patient resources and information to support prescribing in this cohort of patients.