HoNOSCA guide for New Zealand clinicians

Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) is a member of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) family of measures. It is a clinician rated tool developed by the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s Research Unit.

In New Zealand, HoNOSCA is the outcome measurement tool mandated by the Ministry of Health for to measure health and social functioning of children and adolescents (under the age of 18) accessing specialist child and adolescent mental health services.

The guide has been developed as a resource for:

• clinicians and managers in mental health services
• site coordinators and data quality personnel
• outcomes trainers (to assist deliver training in their respective services)

It brings together resources that have previously been available as separate documents. These include the Clinician’s Reference Guide, Version 2.1, 2015; the Mental Health Outcomes Information Collection Protocol (ICP), Version 3.0, April 2021; and the original e-booklets for each of the HoNOS measures, 2014.

Note - this guide was updated in November 2022 to include HoNOSI.