Staying on board

Judith Napier
Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Early intervention is one of the most effective ways to tackle mental health problems in children, yet the families who most need it often shun it. Judith Napier investigates Psychiatrists in Boston, Massachusetts, once thought they had the perfect way of encouraging families to join a programme aimed at tackling their emotional problems. Therapists hit the target neighbourhood with an attention-grabbing, rainbow-painted luxury trailer, brightly labelled as a mobile mental health unit - and wondered why the locals failed to climb aboard.