The child and adolescent mental health medication information sheets on the keltymentalhealth.ca website were recently updated with new content and an exciting new format. Among the most accessed information on the entire Kelty site, the 50 teaching sheets were fully reviewed by a clinical pharmacy specialist (working alongside UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences students) and Kelty Centre health literacy specialists. Graphic team redesign made the handouts modern, shorter and easier to read.

The project kicked off with a survey of patients and families about the prior medication sheet format: which parts were most useful and what could be improved. We clearly heard the parts families found most useful, that they needed to be shorter and easier to read, and the awful clip art from the early 2000s had to go!

Medication handout categories include ADHD medications, antidepressant/anti-anxiety medications, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, sleep medications, monitoring forms and more. The colorful handouts are accessible via the internet from anywhere and are downloadable in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format with most sheets printable on a single piece of paper (double-sided) if desired.

Since many medications prescribed in Canada for child & adolescent mental health conditions lack formal regulatory approval, very little child & adolescent specific information appears in manufacturer produced patient medication information. The Kelty sheets help bridge this gap. In language patients and families can easily understand, the updated sheets cover the conditions each medication is used to treat, how they are thought to work, the best way to take each medication, precautions and possible side effects, how to manage missed doses and proper medication storage.

Dean Elbe, PharmD, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Child & Adolescent Mental Health, BC Children's Hospital