Fourth Edition, September 2011

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services 
(CAMHS)
Specialist public mental health assessment and treat-
ment services provided for children and adolescents 
up to 18 years of age. These are provided by commun-
ity-based, multi-disciplinary services and psychiatric 
inpatient services.
Child and Youth Workers
Professionals who have received training in child and 
youth development and child and youth mental health 
problems, usually at a community-college. In Ontario, 
they may be members of the Ontario Associatioon of 
Child and Youth Counsellors.
Cognitive 
Pertaining to thoughts or thinking. Cognitive disorders 
are disorders of thinking; for example, schizophrenia.
Continuity of Care 
Provision of mental health services to a client in a way 
that ensures care is continued when there is a change 
of service or case manager. An example is when a per-
son leaves a psychiatric inpatient service and his/her 
care is transferred to the community mental health 
centre, or when the client moves to a new area.
Comorbidity 
The simultaneous appearance of two or more illnesses, 
such as the co-occurrence of schizophrenia and sub-
stance abuse, or of alcohol dependence and depres-
sion. The association may refl ect a causal relationship 
between one disorder and another, or an underlying 
vulnerability to both disorders. Also, the appearance of 
the illnesses may be unrelated to any common cause 
or vulnerability.
Compulsion 
Repetitive ritualistic behaviour such as hand wash-
ing or ordering, or a mental act such as praying or re-
peating words silently that aims to prevent or reduce 
distress or prevent some dreaded event or situation. 
The person feels driven to perform such actions in re-
sponse to an obsession or according to rules that must 
be applied rigidly, even though the behaviours are rec-
ognized to be excessive or unreasonable.