The Opportunities and Challenges of the First Three Years of Open Up, an Online Text-Based Counselling Service for Youth and Young Adults

We present the opportunities and challenges of Open Up, a free, 24/7 online text-based counselling service to support youth in Hong Kong. The number of youths served more than doubled within the first three years since its inception in 2018 in response to increasing youth suicidality and mental health needs. Good practice models are being developed in order to sustain and further scale up the service. We discuss the structure of the operation, usage pattern and its effectiveness, the use of AI to improve users experience, and the role of volunteer in the operation. We also present the challenges in further enhancing the operation, calling for more research, especially on the identification of the optimal number of users that can be concurrently served by a counsellor, the effective approach to respond to a small percentage of repeated users who has taken up a disproportional volume of service, and the way to optimize the use of big data analytics and AI technology to enhance the service. These advancements will benefit not only Open Up but also similar services across the globe.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS: PERSPECTIVE OF JHS TEACHERS AND COUNSELLORS IN BIRIM CENTRAL MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

The purpose of the study was to explore guidance services provided for learners with special needs in selected Junior High Schools in Birim Central Municipality. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select counsellors while the simple random technique was used for teachers with a sample size of 61. The questionnaire was used to collect the data. The study revealed that teachers have limited knowledge in guidance and counseling and few teachers also counsel learners with special needs even though they were not counselors. Again, it also revealed that appraisal, information, consultation, counseling, and orientation were guidance services provided to learners with special needs but the most common guidance services provided by teachers and counselors to learners with special needs were consultation service, 30(49.2%), and counselling service, 25(40.1%). It was recommended that the Municipal guidance and counseling coordinator should collaborate with the special education coordinator and the teachers to organise series of workshops on guidance services for teachers to update their knowledge on counseling.

Foreldre underrapporterer om konflikter og utfordringer i forkant av mekling. En evaluering av familievernets differensieringsverktøy

Background: In 2016, the Norwegian family counselling service implemented differentiated mediation to give cumstomized help. The differentiation tool (i.e., questionnaire) has never been evaluated. Method: Using a sample of 761 parents, we compared parent responses given over the phone to the family counselling service and anonymously to an electronic version of the questionnaire. Results: One-third of the parents underreported their challenges to the family counselling service, and only 15% of parents who, in the electronic questionnaire reported substanse abuse or violence in the relationship, revealed this to the service. Underreporters had higher interparental conflict and more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Parents who underreported problems with substanse abuse and violence had more physically violent conflicts. Conclusions: There is a need to improve the validity of the differentiation tool. We suggest that parents need information and a safe environment when completing the questionnaire. Electronic administration of the questionnaire may serve this purpose. Keywords: parental mediation, differentiated mediation, parental conflict, partner violence

Evaluering av familievernets differensieringsverktøy_preprint v1

In 2016, the Norwegian family counselling service implemented differentiated mediation to give cumstomized help. The differentiation tool (i.e., questionnaire) has never been evaluated.In a sample of 761 parents, we compared parent responses given over the phone to the service and anonymously to an electronic version of the questionnaire. One third of the parents underreported their challenges to the family counselling service, and only 15% of parents who in the electronic questionnaire reported substanse abuse or violence in the relationship, revealed this to the service. Underreporters had higher relationship conflict and more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Parents who underreported about problems with substanse abuse and violence had more physically violent conflicts. In conclusion, there is a need to improve the validity of the differentiation tool. We suggest that parents need more information and a safer environment when completing the questionnaire. The electronic administration may serve this purpose.

Counselling Services Needed By Secondary School Students in Mount Elgon District, Bungoma County, Kenya

The youth are facing many social, economic and educational problems. These problems are turning the youth into delinquents and misfits in society. This study is aimed at identifying the counselling services needed by secondary school students in Mt. Elgon District. The researchers employed closed ended questionnaire to collect data. The sample population was 58 teachers and 180 students proportionately drawn from six public secondary schools categorized as boy schools, girl schools and mixed schools. The study revealed that students needed the following counselling services: academic counselling, social, peer and spiritual counselling. However, it was noted that the students are at a variance with the teachers regarding the most important counselling service to be offered in secondary schools.

Optimising the integration of technology-enabled solutions to enhance primary mental health care: a service mapping study

Background Despite the widely acknowledged potential for health information technologies to improve the accessibility, quality and clinical safety of mental health care, implementation of such technologies in services is frequently unsuccessful due to varying consumer, health professional, and service-level factors. The objective of this co-design study was to use process mapping (i.e. service mapping) to illustrate the current consumer journey through primary mental health services, identify barriers to and facilitators of quality mental health care, and highlight potential points at which to integrate the technology-enabled solution to optimise the provision of care based on key service performance indicators. Methods Interactive, discussion-based workshops of up to six hours were conducted with representative stakeholders from each participating service, including health professionals, service managers and administrators from Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling Service (Sydney), a counselling service for veterans and their families, and five headspace centres in the North Coast Primary Health Network, primary youth mental health services. Service maps were drafted and refined in real time during the workshops. Through both group discussion and the use of post-it notes, participants worked together to evaluate performance indicators (e.g. safety) at each point in the consumer journey (e.g. intake) to indicate points of impact for the technology-enabled solution, reviewing and evaluating differing opinions in order to reach consensus. Results Participants (n=84 across participating services) created service maps illustrating the current consumer journey through the respective services and highlighting barriers to and facilitators of quality mental health care. By consensus, the technology-enabled solution as facilitated by the InnoWell Platform was noted to enable the early identification of risk, reduce or eliminate lengthy intake processes, enable routine outcome monitoring to revise treatment plans in relation to consumer response, and serve as a personal data record for consumers, driving person-centred, coordinated care. Conclusions Service mapping was shown to be an effective methodology to understand the consumer’s journey through a service and served to highlight how the co-designed technology-enabled solution can optimise service pathways to improve the accessibility, quality and clinical safety of care relative to key service performance indicators, facilitating the delivery of the right care.