Reducing Psychiatric Risk in Children on the Waiting List - Thesis Proposal Example

Some conditions falling under the autistic spectrum of disorders can only be successfully intervened by offering an early diagnosis. Delayed diagnosis for autism, for instance, could only cause the intervention to be elusive since there is a specific spatial window of opportunity that must be targeted for successful intervention to take place (Kearney and Skehill 2005, p182). The risk occasioned by the apparent delays is immensely worsened by the fact that health attendants are aware of the situation, but the procedure pushes the intervention further away.

Research has been carried out to offer solutions to the management of the condition, by reducing the delay through setting priorities, queue management as well as looking for alternative intervention. It may be impossible to work on all presented cases due to issues touching on the resources available and the therapy procedure needed for the entire variety of cases. Prioritizing cases offers the practical solution to the waiting list problem. According to Cawthorpe et al (2007, p18), Priority Criteria Score (PCS) mainly takes at least three components into consideration, namely; pathophysiological state, sociobehavioural effects and the capacity for gains.

The analysis of the PCS to offer tenable solutions to the waiting list problem demonstrated that urgency and severity state of the case presented are different things to consider while prioritizing a case over another. Pathophysiological severity may not necessarily give urgency for prioritizing a case on one hand, for instance, a condition with terminal malignancy. On the other hand, it is not also reason enough to term a case may be urgent based on the life circumstances but not severe (Carr, 2001, p165).