'Mind the Kids': an ACAMH podcast · The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

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

·28 min·1 clip

SDA tools offer thoroughness, completeness, and consistency, but can become “a bit tick boxy.”

1. ACAMH’s Mind the Kids episode focuses on standardised diagnostic assessment approaches, or SDAs, in children and young people’s mental health services. 2. Mark Tebbs hosts Dr. Salah Bashir and Dr. Sue Fentan, both NIHR clinician-researchers whose work centers on diagnostic assessment and children’s mental health. 3. The episode asks whether SDAs can improve care in CAMHS or risk oversimplifying complex presentations. 4. Salah Bashir says the review was prompted by long waiting times, high demand for CAM services, and a need to update a 2013 systematic review. 5. Sue Fentan defines SDAs as questionnaires or interviews that ask the same symptom questions in a structured way. 6. The discussion contrasts SDAs with traditional clinical assessment, which can be more flexible and may not cover every symptom in the same way. 7. Salah says referral systems often rely on incomplete information from GPs, teachers, parents, or self-referrals. 8. He argues that a completed SDA can give clinicians a more systematic picture when deciding whether to accept a referral and which service is appropriate. 9. The guests describe SDAs as useful before appointments and during specialist assessments, where carers or parents complete forms before the clinical meeting. 10. Salah names three tools from the review: DABA, MiniKid, and KSADS. 11. MiniKid is described as the shortest tool, with no space for free-text description, which makes it faster in busy clinics. 12. DABA is described as semi-structured, with prompts for extra detail and diagnostic probabilities ranging from average to very high. 13. KSADS is described as more clinician-led, semi-structured, and intensive, which may suit highly specialised settings. 14. Salah says the review found SDAs can help avoid missed diagnoses because they are comprehensive. 15. He also says the review found evidence that SDAs can improve referral decision accuracy, including work showing better acceptance of children with more needs when DABA is used. 16. Sue says some clinicians worry SDAs could push teams to label children too quickly or oversimplify complex needs. 17. She adds that clinicians may prefer formulation-based care, and that long assessments can be hard to fit into busy practice. 18. The conversation notes that psychiatrists and psychologists were more likely to use SDAs than nurses, social care workers, or support workers. 19. The tone stays practical and reflective, with both guests answering questions directly and qualifying where evidence is strong or still limited. 20. Researchers, clinicians, and commissioners interested in CAMHS assessment pathways will get the most from this episode, while listeners wanting a diagnosis-only debate may skip it.

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