scholarly journals Our journey, our story: a study protocol for the evaluation of a co-design framework to improve services for Aboriginal youth mental health and well-being

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e042981
Author(s):  
Michael Wright ◽  
Alex Brown ◽  
Patricia Dudgeon ◽  
Rob McPhee ◽  
Juli Coffin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Western Australian

IntroductionMainstream Australian mental health services are failing Aboriginal young people. Despite investing resources, improvements in well-being have not materialised. Culturally and age appropriate ways of working are needed to improve service access and responsiveness. This Aboriginal-led study brings Aboriginal Elders, young people and youth mental health service staff together to build relationships to co-design service models and evaluation tools. Currently, three Western Australian youth mental health services in the Perth metropolitan area and two regional services are working with local Elders and young people to improve their capacity for culturally and age appropriate services. Further Western Australian sites will be engaged as part of research translation.Methods and analysisRelationships ground the study, which utilises Indigenous methodologies and participatory action research. This involves Elders, young people and service staff as co-researchers and the application of a decolonising, strengths-based framework to create the conditions for engagement. It foregrounds experiential learning and Aboriginal ways of working to establish relationships and deepen non-Aboriginal co-researchers’ knowledge and understanding of local, place-based cultural practices. Once relationships are developed, co-design workshops occur at each site directed by local Elders and young people. Co-designed evaluation tools will assess any changes to community perceptions of youth mental health services and the enablers and barriers to service engagement.Ethics and disseminationThe study has approval from the Kimberley Aboriginal Health Planning Forum Kimberley Research Subcommittee, the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee, and the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee. Transferability of the outcomes across the youth mental health sector will be directed by the co-researchers and is supported through Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations including youth mental health services, peak mental health bodies and consumer groups. Community reports and events, peer-reviewed journal articles, conference presentations and social and mainstream media will aid dissemination.

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

BMJ Open ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Using Digital Technologies to Facilitate Care Coordination Between Youth Mental Health Services: A Guide for Implementation

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Iorfino ◽  
Sarah E. Piper ◽  
Ante Prodan ◽  
Haley M. LaMonica ◽  
Tracey A. Davenport ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Dynamic Simulation ◽  
Care Coordination ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Simulation Modelling ◽  
Dynamic Simulation Modelling

Enhanced care coordination is essential to improving access to and navigation between youth mental health services. By facilitating better communication and coordination within and between youth mental health services, the goal is to guide young people quickly to the level of care they need and reduce instances of those receiving inappropriate care (too much or too little), or no care at all. Yet, it is often unclear how this goal can be achieved in a scalable way in local regions. We recommend using technology-enabled care coordination to facilitate streamlined transitions for young people across primary, secondary, more specialised or hospital-based care. First, we describe how technology-enabled care coordination could be achieved through two fundamental shifts in current service provisions; a model of care which puts the person at the centre of their care; and a technology infrastructure that facilitates this model. Second, we detail how dynamic simulation modelling can be used to rapidly test the operational features of implementation and the likely impacts of technology-enabled care coordination in a local service environment. Combined with traditional implementation research, dynamic simulation modelling can facilitate the transformation of real-world services. This work demonstrates the benefits of creating a smart health service infrastructure with embedded dynamic simulation modelling to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes through participatory and data driven health service planning.

scholarly journals Evaluation of ReachOut.com, an Unstructured Digital Youth Mental Health Intervention: Prospective Cohort Study

10.2196/21280 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. e21280
Author(s):  
Bianca Lorraine Kahl ◽  
Hilary May Miller ◽  
Kathryn Cairns ◽  
Hayley Giniunas ◽  
Mariesa Nicholas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Retention Rate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Health Intervention ◽  
Mental Health Intervention

Background Young people experience a disproportionate burden associated with mental illness that Australia’s mental health care system is ill-equipped to handle. Despite improvements in the provision of mental health services, the rates of service utilization among young people remain suboptimal, and there are still considerable barriers to seeking help. Digital mental health services can overcome a number of barriers and connect young people requiring support; however, the evidence base of digital interventions is limited. Objective The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a brief, self-directed, unstructured digital intervention, ReachOut.com (hereafter ReachOut), in reducing depression, anxiety, stress, and risk of suicide. Methods A cohort of 1982 ReachOut users participated in a 12-week longitudinal study, with a retention rate of 81.18% (1609/1982) across the duration of the study. Participants completed web-based surveys, with outcome measures of mental health status and suicide risk assessed at 3 time points across the study period. Results The results demonstrated that over the 12-week study period, young people using ReachOut experienced modest yet significant reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Significant, albeit modest, reductions in the proportion of participants at high risk of suicide were also observed. Conclusions The findings of this research provide preliminary evidence of the promise of an unstructured digital mental health intervention, ReachOut, in alleviating symptoms of mental ill-health and promoting well-being in young people. These findings are particularly important given that digital services are not only acceptable and accessible but also have the potential to cater to the diverse mental health needs of young people at scale, in a way that other services cannot.

Measuring parent satisfaction in youth mental health services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aileen O’Reilly ◽  
Alanna Donnelly ◽  
Jennifer Rogers ◽  
Olive Maloney ◽  
Gillian O’Brien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Parent Satisfaction ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Growth And Change

Purpose Measuring parent satisfaction is regarded as essential but there is a paucity of research reporting on parental satisfaction with community youth mental health services. This study aims to examine parent satisfaction with Jigsaw – a primary care youth mental health service. Design/methodology/approach A measure of parent satisfaction was developed and administered to parents in 12 Jigsaw services over a two-year period (n = 510, age range: 28 to 70 years) when young people and parents were ending their engagement with these services. Findings Overall, parents had high levels of satisfaction with Jigsaw and their level of satisfaction did not vary depending on the parent or young person’s age and/or gender. Examination of qualitative feedback revealed three overarching themes relating to growth and change in young people, parents and their families; strengths of the service and; suggestions for future service development. Analysis of the psychometric properties of the measure provided evidence for a two-factor structure examining satisfaction with the intervention and outcomes and service accessibility and facilities. Originality/value This study represents one of the first efforts to measure parent satisfaction with primary care youth mental health services. It has resulted in the development of a brief measure that can be more widely administered to parents engaging with primary care youth mental health services.

scholarly journals Development of a satisfaction scale for young people attending youth mental health services

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magenta B. Simmons ◽  
Alexandra G. Parker ◽  
Sarah E. Hetrick ◽  
Nic Telford ◽  
Alan Bailey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Satisfaction Scale

scholarly journals “Their story is a hard road to hoe”: how art-making tackles stigma and builds well-being in young people living regionally

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Gentle ◽  
Paul Linsley ◽  
John Hurley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Art Making ◽  
Stigma Reduction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Australia

Purpose Remote and regional Australia have comparatively fewer mental health services than their urban counterparts, what is more, mental health remains profoundly stigmatised. This study aims to understand how, if at all, the process of group art-making then publicly displaying the artworks can contribute to stigma reduction for young people (YP) experiencing mental health challenges in regional Australia. Design/methodology/approach Interviews were conducted with six young artists who use regional mental health services and 25 people who viewed their displayed art using a thematic analysis of the coded interview data. Findings Findings of this study demonstrated how art-making as a process increased self-esteem, social interaction and artistic expression; while the viewers experienced an emotional connection to the art. The viewer’s response enhanced YP’s confidence in their abilities. Originality/value Incorporating art-making and exhibiting the art in public spaces could be incorporated into YP’s mental health services to support well-being and inform the perception the general public hold of mental health, thus reducing stigma.

scholarly journals Predicting self-harm within six months after initial presentation to youth mental health services: A machine learning study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243467
Author(s):  
Frank Iorfino ◽  
Nicholas Ho ◽  
Joanne S. Carpenter ◽  
Shane P. Cross ◽  
Tracey A. Davenport ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Machine Learning ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
History Of ◽  
Self Harm

Background A priority for health services is to reduce self-harm in young people. Predicting self-harm is challenging due to their rarity and complexity, however this does not preclude the utility of prediction models to improve decision-making regarding a service response in terms of more detailed assessments and/or intervention. The aim of this study was to predict self-harm within six-months after initial presentation. Method The study included 1962 young people (12–30 years) presenting to youth mental health services in Australia. Six machine learning algorithms were trained and tested with ten repeats of ten-fold cross-validation. The net benefit of these models were evaluated using decision curve analysis. Results Out of 1962 young people, 320 (16%) engaged in self-harm in the six months after first assessment and 1642 (84%) did not. The top 25% of young people as ranked by mean predicted probability accounted for 51.6% - 56.2% of all who engaged in self-harm. By the top 50%, this increased to 82.1%-84.4%. Models demonstrated fair overall prediction (AUROCs; 0.744–0.755) and calibration which indicates that predicted probabilities were close to the true probabilities (brier scores; 0.185–0.196). The net benefit of these models were positive and superior to the ‘treat everyone’ strategy. The strongest predictors were (in ranked order); a history of self-harm, age, social and occupational functioning, sex, bipolar disorder, psychosis-like experiences, treatment with antipsychotics, and a history of suicide ideation. Conclusion Prediction models for self-harm may have utility to identify a large sub population who would benefit from further assessment and targeted (low intensity) interventions. Such models could enhance health service approaches to identify and reduce self-harm, a considerable source of distress, morbidity, ongoing health care utilisation and mortality.

scholarly journals Improving Mood with Physical ACTivity (IMPACT) trial: a cluster randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a brief physical activity behaviour change intervention on depressive symptoms in young people, compared with psychoeducation, in addition to routine clinical care within youth mental health services—a protocol study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. e034002
Author(s):  
Alexandra G. Parker ◽  
Connie Markulev ◽  
Debra J. Rickwood ◽  
Andrew Mackinnon ◽  
Rosemary Purcell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Routine Clinical Care

IntroductionDepression is highly prevalent and the leading contributor to the burden of disease in young people worldwide, making it an ongoing priority for early intervention. As the current evidence-based interventions of medication and psychological therapy are only modestly effective, there is an urgent need for additional treatment strategies. This paper describes the rationale of the Improving Mood with Physical ACTivity (IMPACT) trial. The primary aim of the IMPACT trial is to determine the effectiveness of a physical activity intervention compared with psychoeducation, in addition to routine clinical care, on depressive symptoms in young people. Additional aims are to evaluate the intervention effects on anxiety and functional outcomes and examine whether changes in physical activity mediate improvements in depressive symptoms.Methods and analysisThe study is being conducted in six youth mental health services across Australia and is using a parallel-group, two-arm, cluster randomised controlled trial design, with randomisation occurring at the clinician level. Participants aged between 12 years and 25 years with moderate to severe levels of depression are randomised to receive, in addition to routine clinical care, either: (1) a physical activity behaviour change intervention or (2) psychoeducation about physical activity. The primary outcome will be change in the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, with assessments occurring at baseline, postintervention (end-point) and 6-month follow-up from end-point. Secondary outcome measures will address additional clinical outcomes, functioning and quality of life. IMPACT is to be conducted between May 2014 and December 2019.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee on 8 June 2014 (HREC 1442228). Trial findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences. Key messages will also be disseminated by the youth mental health services organisation (headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation).Trial registration numberACTRN12614000772640.

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