Research

Please click the links below for the current research on evaluating and using the HEADS-ED screening tool.

HEADS-ED Under 6

Community Settings

Polihronis, C., Cloutier, P., Kempe, L., Schryer, J., & Cappelli, M. (2024). The HEADS‐ED under 6: Piloting a new communimetric mental health and developmental screening and triage tool for young children. Infant Mental Health Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.2...

HEADS-ED 6 and Older

Emergency Department

Cappelli, M., Zemek, R., Polihronis, C., Thibedeau, N. R., Kennedy, A., Gray, C., … Cloutier, P. (2017). The HEADS-ED: Evaluating the Clinical Use of a Brief, Action-Oriented, Pediatric Mental Health Screening Tool. Pediatric Emergency Care, 1. doi:10.1097/pec.0000000000001180
MacWilliams, K., Curran, J., Racek, J., Cloutier, P., & Cappelli, M. (2017). Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing the HEADS-ED: A Rapid Screening Tool for Pediatric Patients. Pediatric Emergency Care, 33(12), 774–780. doi:10.1097/pec.0000000000000651
Cappelli, M., Gray, C.E., Zemek, R.L., Cloutier, P., Kennedy, A.M., Glennie, E., Doucet, G., & Lyons, J.S. (2012). The HEADS-ED: a rapid mental health screening tool for pediatric patients in the emergency department. Pediatrics, 130 2, e321-7.

Emergency Department Mental Health Pathways

Lightbody, T., Thull-Freedman, J., Freedman, S.B. et al. Use of quality improvement methods to enhance implementation of a mental health care bundle in a pediatric emergency department. Can J Emerg Med 25, 326–334 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43678-023-00476-4

Doupnik, S. K., & Fu, A. (2019). Catching up to the Crisis: Opportunities for Pediatric Hospitals to Improve Children's Access to Mental Health Services. Hospital pediatrics, 9(2), 144–145

Jabbour, M., Hawkins, J., Day, D., Cloutier, P., Polihronis, C., Cappelli, M., … Gray, C. (2018). An Emergency Department Clinical Pathway for Children and Youth with Mental Health Conditions. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 27(3), 413–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2018.02.005

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Critical Crossroads Pediatric Mental Health Care in the Emergency Department: A Care Pathway Resource Toolkit. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019.

Roman, S. B.,Matthews-Wilson, A., Dickinson, P., Chenard, D., & Rogers, S. C. (2018). Current Pediatric Emergency Department Innovative Programs to Improve the Care of Psychiatric Patients. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 27(3), 441–454. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2018.02.004

Jabbour, M., Reid, S., Polihronis, C., Cloutier, P., Gardner, W., Kennedy, A., … Cappelli, M. (2016). Improving mental health care transitions for children and youth: a protocol to implement and evaluate an emergency department clinical pathway. Implementation Science, 11(1). doi:10.1186/s13012-016-0456-9

Primary Care Mental Health Pathways

Centralized Intake Referral System

Clark, S. E., Cloutier, P., Polihronis, C., & Cappelli, M. (2019). Evaluating the HEADS-ED Screening Tool in a Hospital-Based Mental Health and Addictions Central Referral Intake System: A Prospective Cohort Study. Hospital Pediatrics, 9(2), 107–114. doi:10.1542/hpeds.2018-0112

Community Settings

Whitesell & Company (2019). Wellkin Child & Youth Mental Wellness: Walk-in Counseling Mental Health Services Study

Henderson, J. L., Cheung, A., Cleverley, K., Chaim, G., Moretti, M. E., de Oliveira, C., Hawke, L. D., Willan, A. R., O'Brien, D., Heffernan, O., Herzog, T., Courey, L., McDonald, H., Grant, E., & Szatmari, P. (2017). Integrated collaborative care teams to enhance service delivery to youth with mental health and substance use challenges: protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. BMJ open, 7(2), e014080.

Others use of the HEADS-ED

Canadian Patient Safety Institute & The Mental Heath Commission of Canada (January 2021). Suicide Risk Assessment Toolkit: A Resource for Healthcare Workers and Organizations

Thank you for visiting the HEADS-ED website at www.heads-ed.com. HEADS-ED is a mental health screening tool developed at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is intended to serve as an information tool that may be used as a resource for Emergency Department physicians and other healthcare professionals in assessing mental health patients. Access to and use of the HEADS-ED website constitutes acceptance of and compliance with the following terms and conditions of use, which may be subject to change from time to time.

The content of the HEADS-ED website, including all text, graphics, images, and links (the “Content”), is provided solely for educational and informational purposes. The Content is not designed or intended to serve as or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Consultation with your physician, or other qualified health providers, should be sought for any questions you may have with respect to your own unique medical circumstances. The HEADS-ED website is also not a substitute for the personalized clinical judgment and/or care of a medical professional. HEADS-ED information should never be used as a substitute for specific professional medical advice or serve as a reason for delay in seeking it. HEADS-ED is an information tool that physicians and other healthcare professionals may refer to in the exercise of their own specific clinical judgment in the context of their own specific patient-physician relationships.

The information provided on the HEADS-ED website is believed to be accurate and reliable at the time of posting. However, the HEADS-ED design team and its affiliates do not guarantee or warrant the currency, accuracy, or any other aspect of the suitability of the information provided when posted. All risk associated with the use of all information posted on the HEADS-ED website is assumed by the user of the site. The HEADS-ED design team and its affiliates assume no obligation to ensure currency of information or to report on further developments with respect to the information posted on the HEADS-ED website. Information supplied is considered “as is” and the HEADS-ED design team and its affiliates shall not be liable for any damages or injury, including but not limited to special or consequential damage resulting from the use of any information on the HEADS-ED website.

Certain links contained in the content of the HEADS-ED website lead to resources located on servers maintained by third parties over whom the HEADS-ED design team and its affiliates have no control or jurisdiction. As such, the HEADS-ED design team and its affiliates make no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or any other aspect of the information contained on such third party servers. The HEADS-ED design team and its affiliates do not recommend or endorse the content of any third party websites, nor do they endorse any physicians or other health professionals, treatment, services, products, procedures, opinions, or any other aspect of information that may be referenced in the content of third party websites.

The HEADS-ED website and its use are governed by the laws in effect in the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario. Any dispute or claim based on use of the HEADS-ED website is governed by those laws.

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