Measuring the performance of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) in a primary care youth mental health service

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Donnelly ◽  
A. O’Reilly ◽  
L. Dolphin ◽  
L. O’Keeffe ◽  
J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Three Factor

ObjectivesMental health is regarded as more than the absence of mental health difficulties, with clinical and research focus moving towards measurement of well-being. The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) was developed to assess overall and emotional, social and psychological well-being. Little is known about the use of the MHC-SF with young people engaging with mental health services. The current pilot study sought to examine the performance of the MHC-SF in an Irish primary care youth mental health service for 12–25 year olds.MethodsA sample of 229 young people (female n=143; male n=85, unknown n=1) aged 12–24 years (M=15.87, SD=2.51) who completed the MHC-SF prior to commencing their first intervention session in Jigsaw participated in this study. The psychometric properties of the MHC-SF were investigated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency.ResultsCFA supported the three-factor structure of the MHC-SF for emotional, social, and psychological well-being, and very good internal consistency was observed.ConclusionFindings provide evidence for the psychometric properties of the MHC-SF in a primary care youth mental health setting, and suggest that the MHC-SF’s three-factor structure is valid for use in this context. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Prevalence of subthreshold positive symptoms in young people without psychotic disorders presenting to a youth mental health service

2020 ◽  
Vol 215 ◽  
pp. 446-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Seiler ◽  
James Maguire ◽  
Tony Nguyen ◽  
Holly Sizer ◽  
Patrick McGorry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Positive Symptoms

scholarly journals Young People’s Satisfaction With the Online Mental Health Service eheadspace: Development and Implementation of a Service Satisfaction Measure (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Rickwood ◽  
Alison Wallace ◽  
Vanessa Kennedy ◽  
Shaunagh O’Sullivan ◽  
Nic Telford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Service Satisfaction ◽  
Satisfaction Questionnaire ◽  
Service Contact

BACKGROUND Online youth mental health services are an expanding approach to meeting service need and can be used as the first step in a stepped-care approach. However, limited evidence exists regarding satisfaction with online services, and there is no standardized service satisfaction measure. OBJECTIVE This study implemented an online youth mental health service satisfaction questionnaire within eheadspace, an online youth mental health service. The aims were to test the questionnaire’s psychometric properties and identify current levels of satisfaction among service users, as well as to identify client and service contact characteristics that affect satisfaction. METHODS Data were collected from 2280 eheadspace clients via an online questionnaire advertised and accessed through the eheadspace service platform between September 2016 and February 2018. Client and service contact characteristics, potential outcomes, and session and service feedback data were collected. RESULTS The service satisfaction questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency for the overall satisfaction scale (alpha=.95) and its three subscales: session satisfaction, potential outcomes, and service satisfaction. A three-factor model was the best fit to the data, although including a higher order unidimensional construct of overall satisfaction was also a reasonable fit. Overall, young people were very satisfied with eheadspace (mean 3.60, SD 0.83). Service characteristics, but not client characteristics, were significantly associated with satisfaction. Young people were more satisfied with eheadspace when they had greater engagement as evident through receiving esupport rather than briefer service provision, having a longer session and greater interaction with the clinician, and not previously attending a face-to-face headspace center. CONCLUSIONS The online youth mental health service satisfaction questionnaire developed for and implemented in eheadspace showed good psychometric properties. The measure is brief, has good internal consistency, and has a clear factor structure. The measure could be adapted for use in other online youth mental health services. The young people using eheadspace and completing the feedback survey were highly satisfied. Greater engagement with the online service was shown to be associated with greater satisfaction. No specific client demographic groups were shown to be more or less satisfied.

scholarly journals Pathways to care of young people accessing a pilot specialist youth mental health service in Norfolk, United Kingdom

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 436-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Hodgekins ◽  
Timothy Clarke ◽  
Hannah Cole ◽  
Constantina Markides ◽  
Uju Ugochukwu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Pathways To Care

Evaluation of an exercise physiology service in a youth mental health service

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
M. Pearce ◽  
L. Foote ◽  
E. Brown ◽  
B. O’Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Exercise Physiology ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Metabolic Monitoring ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Co Morbidity

Background Individuals who experience serious mental health disorders are at an increased risk of physical illness co-morbidity and early intervention is crucial. Recommendations to embed an exercise physiologist service into a mental health service have not been fully evaluated. Objectives This study aimed to determine (i) demographics and clinical characteristics of the young people referred to exercise physiology, (ii) adherence to metabolic monitoring, (iii) baseline physical health and (iv) level of engagement after referral. Methods This is a naturalistic cohort study and included all young people referred to the exercise physiology service between 2015 and 2019 at Orygen, a specialist youth mental health service in the north-western region of Melbourne. Results During the study period of 45 months, 312 young people were referred to exercise physiology, and of those, 51.3% were male. The mean age was 19.8 years. In regard to primary diagnoses, 47.4% had a psychotic disorder and 33.7% an affective disorder. Baseline weight measurements were completed for 71.8% of young people. The proportion of young people who were classified as overweight or obese increased from 55.1% to 70.4% (p < 0.001). For those referred, 61.5% attended either an individual session or a group session. A total of 29.5% did not attend their appointment following referral. Conclusions As over half of young people had poor physical health at presentation, integrating an exercise physiology service into a youth mental health service is a novel and needed intervention. However, there still needs to be an emphasis on metabolic monitoring and engagement.

scholarly journals A Novel Multimodal Digital Service (Moderated Online Social Therapy+) for Help-Seeking Young People Experiencing Mental Ill-Health: Pilot Evaluation Within a National Youth E-Mental Health Service

10.2196/17155 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e17155
Author(s):  
Mario Alvarez-Jimenez ◽  
Simon Rice ◽  
Simon D'Alfonso ◽  
Steven Leicester ◽  
Sarah Bendall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
System Use ◽  
Secondary Outcomes ◽  
Perceived Helpfulness

Background Mental ill-health is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Moreover, 75% of mental health conditions emerge between the ages of 12 and 25 years. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources and limited engagement with services, a majority of young people affected by mental ill-health do not access evidence-based support. To address this gap, our team has developed a multimodal, scalable digital mental health service (Enhanced Moderated Online Social Therapy [MOST+]) merging real-time, clinician-delivered web chat counseling; interactive user-directed online therapy; expert and peer moderation; and peer-to-peer social networking. Objective The primary aim of this study is to ascertain the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of MOST+. The secondary aims are to assess pre-post changes in clinical, psychosocial, and well-being outcomes and to explore the correlations between system use, perceived helpfulness, and secondary outcome variables. Methods Overall, 157 young people seeking help from a national youth e-mental health service were recruited over 5 weeks. MOST+ was active for 9 weeks. All participants had access to interactive online therapy and integrated web chat counseling. Additional access to peer-to-peer social networking was granted to 73 participants (46.5%) for whom it was deemed safe. The intervention was evaluated via an uncontrolled single-group study. Results Overall, 93 participants completed the follow-up assessment. Most participants had moderate (52/157, 33%) to severe (96/157, 61%) mental health conditions. All a priori feasibility, acceptability, and safety criteria were met. Participants provided mean scores of ≥3.5 (out of 5) on ease of use (mean 3.7, SD 1.1), relevancy (mean 3.9, SD 1.0), helpfulness (mean 3.5, SD 0.9), and overall experience (mean 3.9, SD 0.8). Moreover, 98% (91/93) of participants reported a positive experience using MOST+, 82% (70/93) reported that using MOST+ helped them feel better, 86% (76/93) felt more socially connected using it, and 92% (86/93) said they would recommend it to others. No serious adverse events or inappropriate use were detected, and 97% (90/93) of participants reported feeling safe. There were statistically significant improvements in 8 of the 11 secondary outcomes assessed: psychological distress (d=−0.39; P<.001), perceived stress (d=−0.44; P<.001), psychological well-being (d=0.51; P<.001), depression (d=−0.29; P<.001), loneliness (d=−0.23; P=.04), social support (d=0.30; P<.001), autonomy (d=0.36; P=.001), and self-competence (d=0.30; P<.001). There were significant correlations between system use, perceived helpfulness, and a number of secondary outcome variables. Conclusions MOST+ is a feasible, acceptable, and safe online clinical service for young people with mental ill-health. The high level of perceived helpfulness, the significant improvements in secondary outcomes, and the correlations between indicators of system use and secondary outcome variables provide initial support for the therapeutic potential of MOST+. MOST+ is a promising and scalable platform to deliver standalone e-mental health services as well as enhance the growing international network of face-to-face youth mental health services.

scholarly journals Young People’s Satisfaction With the Online Mental Health Service eheadspace: Development and Implementation of a Service Satisfaction Measure

10.2196/12169 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. e12169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Rickwood ◽  
Alison Wallace ◽  
Vanessa Kennedy ◽  
Shaunagh O’Sullivan ◽  
Nic Telford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Service Satisfaction ◽  
Satisfaction Questionnaire ◽  
Service Contact

Background Online youth mental health services are an expanding approach to meeting service need and can be used as the first step in a stepped-care approach. However, limited evidence exists regarding satisfaction with online services, and there is no standardized service satisfaction measure. Objective This study implemented an online youth mental health service satisfaction questionnaire within eheadspace, an online youth mental health service. The aims were to test the questionnaire’s psychometric properties and identify current levels of satisfaction among service users, as well as to identify client and service contact characteristics that affect satisfaction. Methods Data were collected from 2280 eheadspace clients via an online questionnaire advertised and accessed through the eheadspace service platform between September 2016 and February 2018. Client and service contact characteristics, potential outcomes, and session and service feedback data were collected. Results The service satisfaction questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency for the overall satisfaction scale (alpha=.95) and its three subscales: session satisfaction, potential outcomes, and service satisfaction. A three-factor model was the best fit to the data, although including a higher order unidimensional construct of overall satisfaction was also a reasonable fit. Overall, young people were very satisfied with eheadspace (mean 3.60, SD 0.83). Service characteristics, but not client characteristics, were significantly associated with satisfaction. Young people were more satisfied with eheadspace when they had greater engagement as evident through receiving esupport rather than briefer service provision, having a longer session and greater interaction with the clinician, and not previously attending a face-to-face headspace center. Conclusions The online youth mental health service satisfaction questionnaire developed for and implemented in eheadspace showed good psychometric properties. The measure is brief, has good internal consistency, and has a clear factor structure. The measure could be adapted for use in other online youth mental health services. The young people using eheadspace and completing the feedback survey were highly satisfied. Greater engagement with the online service was shown to be associated with greater satisfaction. No specific client demographic groups were shown to be more or less satisfied.

scholarly journals The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14–25 years

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Maxwell ◽  
Obianuju Ugochukwu ◽  
Tim Clarke ◽  
Brioney Gee ◽  
Emmet Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Service Model ◽  
Youth Service

Aims and methodThe Norfolk Youth Service was created in 2012 in response to calls to redesign mental health services to better meet the needs of young people. The new service model transcends traditional boundaries by creating a single, ‘youth friendly’ service for young people aged 14–25 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the transition to this new model on patterns of referral, acceptance and service use. We analysed routinely collected data on young people aged 14–25 years referred for secondary mental healthcare in Norfolk before and after implementation of the youth mental health service. The number of referrals, their age and gender, proportion of referrals accepted and average number of service contacts per referral by age pre- and post-implementation were compared.ResultsReferrals increased by 68% following implementation of the new service model, but the proportion of referrals accepted fell by 27 percentage points. Before implementation of the youth service, there was a clear discrepancy between the peak age of referral and the age of those seen by services. Following implementation, service contacts were more equitable across ages, with no marked discontinuity at age 18 years.Clinical implicationsOur findings suggest that the transformation of services may have succeeded in reducing the ‘cliff edge’ in access to mental health services at the transition to adulthood. However, the sharp rise in referrals and reduction in the proportion of referrals accepted highlights the importance of considering possible unintended consequences of new service models.Declaration of interestsNone.

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