Access to and utilisation of mental health services among children and adolescents, pregnant and postpartum people, and older adults

This scoping review aims to map and synthesise the existing empirical evidence on access to and utilisation of mental health services across the life course, with a particular focus on children and adolescents, pregnant and postpartum people, and older adults. Despite ongoing efforts to expand mental health care provision, substantial inequities in access to and engagement with services persist, especially among socially and economically disadvantaged populations and during vulnerable life stages. The review adopts a life-course perspective and examines how access to and utilisation of mental health services are shaped by health literacy, socioeconomic disadvantage, and critical life events. It includes a broad range of empirical study designs and settings, covering preventive, psychosocial, community-based, and digital mental health services. Barriers and facilitators to accessing and using mental health services will be systematically identified and mapped to the conceptual framework of access to health care developed by Levesque et al. (2013), encompassing dimensions such as approachability, acceptability, availability and accommodation, affordability, and appropriateness. The expected outcomes of this scoping review are: (i) a comprehensive overview of the extent, nature, and characteristics of the evidence on mental health service access and utilisation across key stages of the life course; (ii) an identification of common and population-specific barriers and facilitators; (iii) a synthesis of existing intervention strategies aimed at improving equitable access to mental health services; and (iv) the identification of evidence gaps and underexplored dimensions of access. The findings are intended to inform future empirical research, policy development, and the design of equity-oriented mental health interventions.