Abstract
There is a mental health crisis among adolescents and young adults across the globe. This Banded Dissertation sought to contribute to the scholarly discussion on mental health issues in these age groups. The first product is a conceptual examination of lack of access to inpatient psychiatric care for adolescents in the US. The review concluded with recommendations for medical social workers on practices and interventions that can be implemented to assist patients while they are waiting for psychiatric placement. The second scholarly work is a quantitative study of stress and anxiety rates among college students. The key variables of interest included: the COVID-19 pandemic, technology and social media, academic stress, finances, and relationships. The study sample consisted of 652 undergraduate students. Findings revealed that academic stress was the most identified source of stress, with test-taking and internal pressure ranking as the top contributors within this category. The third product involved the development of a new course: ‘Crisis Intervention’, suitable for students enrolled in Master of Social Work and Master of Public Administration programs. The course introduces students to the current and future exigencies in the growing field of crisis intervention. Special attention was given to mental health issues, emergency preparedness, and other crises that require coordinated responses and intervention.