Description

Standardised diagnostic assessment (SDA) tools are increasingly positioned as central to structured mental health evaluation, shaping how clinicians identify and formulate disorder in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). In this talk, Sue Fen Tan and Salah Basheer examine the role of SDAs within contemporary diagnostic practice, focusing on how commonly used tools organise clinical reasoning, influence referral pathways, and delimit treatment planning. Drawing on empirical literature alongside clinical experience, they interrogate the extent to which SDAs standardise decision-making, while foregrounding the tensions and gaps that persist in their application. They further consider the practical and relational constraints that complicate wider implementation, including resource limitations, training demands, time pressures, and questions of acceptability among young people, families, and professionals. The discussion critically engages with strategies to enhance feasibility and sustainability, examining where these remain aspirational rather than realised. In doing so, the talk identifies priorities for future research and innovation, and offers a nuanced account of the role SDAs play—both enabling and constraining—in the delivery of evidence-based care within CAMHS..

Learning Objectives

A. To understand what standardised diagnostic assessments (SDAs) are and their relevance in CAMHS.

B. To recognise commonly used SDA tools and how they inform referral, diagnosis, and treatment decisions.

C. To discuss barriers and acceptability issues affecting the routine use of SDA tools in practice.

D. To explore future directions, including strategies and innovations to improve feasibility, sustainability, and research evidence for SDA use.

Related Content Links

Mind the Kids - Diagnosis with Heart: The Promise and Challenges of SDA Tools