“If you don't speak from the heart, the young mob aren't going to listen at all”: An invitation for youth mental health services to engage in new ways of working

Abstract Background The World Economic Forum has recently highlighted substantial problems in mental health service provision and called for the rapid deployment of smarter, digitally-enhanced health services as a means to facilitate effective care coordination and address issues of demand. In mental health, the biggest enabler of digital solutions is the implementation of an effective model of care that is facilitated by integrated health information technologies (HITs); the latter ensuring the solution is easily accessible, scalable and sustainable. The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre (BMC) has developed an innovative digital health solution – delivered through the Youth Mental Health and Technology Program – which incorporates two components: 1) a highly personalised and measurement-based (data-driven) model of youth mental health care; and 2) an industrial grade HIT registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. This paper describes a research protocol to evaluate the impact of implementing the BMC’s digital health solution into youth mental health services (i.e. headspace - a highly accessible, youth-friendly integrated service that responds to the mental health, physical health, alcohol or other substance use, and vocational concerns of young people aged 12 to 25 years) within urban and regional areas of Australia. Methods The digital health solution will be implemented into participating headspace centres using a naturalistic research design. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from headspace health professionals, service managers and administrators, as well as from lead agency and local Primary Health Network (PHN) staff, via service audits, Implementation Officer logs, online surveys, and semi-structured interviews, at baseline and then three-monthly intervals over the course of 12 months. Discussion At the time of publication, six headspace centres had been recruited to this study and had commenced implementation and impact evaluation. The first results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2021. This study will focus on the impact of implementing a digital health solution at both a service and staff level, and will evaluate digital readiness of service and staff adoption; quality, usability and acceptability of the solution by staff; staff self-reported clinical competency; overall impact on headspace centres as well as their lead agencies and local PHNs; and social return on investment.

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New Ways of Working is dead, long live New Ways of Working! Revised joint guidance on the employment of consultant psychiatrists

The Psychiatrist ◽

10.1192/pb.bp.109.025551 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 149-150 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrew Clark

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Royal College ◽

Professional Roles ◽

Good Practices ◽

New Ways Of Working ◽

Department Of Health ◽

Team Functioning

SummaryIn 2005 the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the NHS Confederation, the National Institute for Mental Health in England and the Department of Health jointly produced the first edition of the Joint Guidance on the Employment of Consultant Psychiatrists. This was integral to the New Ways of Working initiative and outline different professional roles within mental health services. Four years on the document has been extensively revised. The new 2009 edition emphasises achieving viable and satisfying consultant posts through effective job planning and good team functioning. It also contains guidance on recruitment processes with useful examples of templates, flowcharts and good practices.

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Non-participation in education, employment, and training among young people accessing youth mental health services: demographic and clinical correlates

Advances in Mental Health ◽

10.1080/18387357.2017.1342553 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 19-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Erin M. Holloway ◽

Debra Rickwood ◽

Imogen C. Rehm ◽

Denny Meyer ◽

Scott Griffiths ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Young People ◽

Health Services ◽

Youth Mental Health ◽

Clinical Correlates ◽

And Training

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Factors Associated With Caregiver Attendance in Implementation of Multiple Evidence-Based Practices in Youth Mental Health Services

Psychiatric Services ◽

10.1176/appi.ps.201800443 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 70 (9) ◽

pp. 808-815 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Blanche Wright ◽

Anna S. Lau ◽

Lauren Brookman-Frazee

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Youth Mental Health ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Evidence Based Practices ◽

Factors Associated

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Development of a Single-Session Family Program at Child and Youth Mental-Health Services, Southern Melbourne

Single-Session Therapy by Walk-In or Appointment ◽

10.4324/9781351112437-7 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 104-115

Author(s):

Rachel Barbara-May ◽

Paul Denborough ◽

Tess McGrane

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Youth Mental Health ◽

Single Session ◽

Family Program

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Systematic review of youth mental health service integration research

Australian Journal of Primary Health ◽

10.1071/py15114 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 304 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Irina Kinchin ◽

Komla Tsey ◽

Marion Heyeres ◽

Yvonne Cadet-James

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Service ◽

Health Services ◽

Methodological Quality ◽

Service Integration ◽

Youth Mental Health ◽

Inclusion Criteria

Quality mental health care is based on the integration of care across organisations and disciplines. The aims of this study were, first, to assess the extent, characteristics and reported outcomes of publications concerned with youth mental health service integration in Australia and internationally; and second, to investigate the study design quality of evaluative interventions and determine whether the studies report on the cost-effectiveness of the integration in order to inform the reform of youth mental health services by Queensland Health. A systematic search of the peer-reviewed literature and a narrative synthesis were undertaken of English language publications from 21 electronic databases. Inclusion criteria were: published 1998–2014 (inclusive); peer-reviewed research; focused on mental health services integration; reported data for youth aged 12–25 years. The methodological quality of evaluative interventions was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP). Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria: one (4%) was classified as a measurement research, 13 (52%) as descriptive, and 11 (44%) as interventions including five (45%) evaluative interventions. Four out of the five evaluative interventions reported positive effects of youth mental health service integration. Particular problems included ambiguity of definitions, absence of economic or cost analyses and insufficient consumer involvement. The methodological quality of the interventions was variable with, on average, a moderate level of selection bias and study design. Despite a slight increase in the number of studies in the last couple of years, there are important gaps in the evidence base for youth mental health service integration processes. The relatively small number of evaluative studies and lack of economic evaluations point to the need for additional research in this important area.

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Youth Mental Health Tracker: protocol to establish a longitudinal cohort and research database for young people attending Australian mental health services

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035379 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e035379

Author(s):

Cathrin Rohleder ◽

Yun Ju Christine Song ◽

Jacob J Crouse ◽

Tracey A Davenport ◽

Frank Iorfino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Young People ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Health Services ◽

Physical Health ◽

Youth Mental Health ◽

Severe Illness ◽

Trajectory Data

IntroductionMental disorders are a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Much of the burden of mental ill-health is mediated by early onset, comorbidities with physical health conditions and chronicity of the illnesses. This study aims to track the early period of mental disorders among young people presenting to Australian mental health services to facilitate more streamlined transdiagnostic processes, highly personalised and measurement-based care, secondary prevention and enhanced long-term outcomes.Methods and analysisRecruitment to this large-scale, multisite, prospective, transdiagnostic, longitudinal clinical cohort study (‘Youth Mental Health Tracker’) will be offered to all young people between the ages of 12 and 30 years presenting to participating services with proficiency in English and no history of intellectual disability. Young people will be tracked over 3 years with standardised assessments at baseline and 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. Assessments will include self-report and clinician-administered measures, covering five key domains including: (1) social and occupational function; (2) self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviour; (3) alcohol or other substance misuse; (4) physical health; and (5) illness type, clinical stage and trajectory. Data collection will be facilitated by the use of health information technology. The data will be used to: (1) determine prospectively the course of multidimensional functional outcomes, based on the differential impact of demographics, medication, psychological interventions and other key potentially modifiable moderator variables and (2) map pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical illness trajectories to determine transition rates of young people to more severe illness forms.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Sydney Local Health District (2019/ETH00469). All data will be non-identifiable, and research findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific conference presentations.

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