The right help at the right level: digital treatment and waiting lists for children and young people

The Office of the Auditor General of Norway is clear: many children and young people with mental health problems and disorders do not get the help they need. Where you live decides what you are offered, waiting times are too long, and this is not the first time it has been established. The same findings were made in 2021. The background is a report in the newspaper VG on the Auditor General's sharp criticism: where you live determines whether children and young people with mental illness get help.

It is a serious systemic failure. But we have the tools to do something about it.

Not everyone needs an appointment with a specialist

It is about giving the right help at the right level. Many will benefit greatly from structured psychoeducation, a self-guided digital intervention, or guided eBehandling, where a therapist follows up but does not need to meet the patient in person.

That means a therapist in Tromsø can help a young person in Tysfjord. That capacity can be increased without hiring proportionally more staff. That waiting lists can be shortened, not by lowering the bar, but by raising the floor.

This is not future technology. There are documented programmes in clinical use today, in Norwegian specialist health care.

The question is no longer whether digital treatment works. The question is why we do not use it more systematically where the need is greatest.

You can find more examples of programmes for children and young people in the library.