Materiality of evidence-based policy making for child and adolescent psychiatry in Japan

Abstract

The Japanese government established the Children and Family Agency in April 2023 and is trying to promote evidence-based policymaking (EBPM). However, the current state of child and adolescent psychiatry in Japan demonstrated some difficulties. School refusal and suicide problems are increasing after the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These issues need to be addressed, thereby warranting various policies to be developed and implemented. Increasing the number of inpatient medical institutions and establishing a community-based data accumulation system that enables data and knowledge sharing among professionals is essential to improve child and adolescent psychiatric care. Furthermore, EBPM is needed to effectively develop a policy, and specialized experts are necessary to organize data and critically review evidence.