Aim headspace is Australia's innovation in youth mental healthcare and comprises the largest national network of enhanced primary care, youth mental health centres world‐wide. headspace centres aim to intervene early in the development of mental ill‐health for young people aged 12 to 25 years by breaking down the barriers to service access experienced by adolescents and emerging adults and providing holistic healthcare. Centres have been progressively implemented over the past 12 years and are expected to apply a consistent model of integrated youth healthcare. Internationally, several countries are implementing related approaches, but the specific elements of such models have not been well described in the literature. Method This paper addresses this gap by providing a detailed overview of the 16 core components of the headspace centre model. Results The needs of young people and their families are the main drivers of the headspace model, which has 10 service components (youth participation, family and friends participation, community awareness, enhanced access, early intervention, appropriate care, evidence‐informed practice, four core streams, service integration, supported transitions) and six enabling components (national network, Lead Agency governance, Consortia, multidisciplinary workforce, blended funding, monitoring and evaluation). Conclusion Through implementation of these core components headspace aims to provide easy access to one‐stop, youth‐friendly mental health, physical and sexual health, alcohol and other drug, and vocational services for young people across Australia.

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Australia's headspace initiative is world-leading in nation-wide youth mental healthcare reform for young people aged 12 to 25 years, now with 16 years of implementation. This paper examines changes in the key outcomes of psychological distress, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life for young people accessing headspace centres across Australia for mental health problems. The design was a single-arm, observational study using routinely collected data from headspace clients commencing an episode of care between 1 April 2019 and 30 March 2020, and at 90-day follow-up. All 108 of the fully-established headspace centres across Australia were included, with 58,233 young people aged 12-25 years first accessing headspace centres for mental health problems during the data collection period. Main outcome measures were self-reported psychological distress and quality of life, and clinician-reported social and occupational functioning. Most headspace mental health clients presented with depression and anxiety issues (75.21%). There were 35.27% with a diagnosis: 21.74% diagnosed with anxiety, 18.51% with depression, and 8.60% were sub-syndromal. Cognitive behavioural therapy was the most common treatment. There were significant improvements in all outcome scores over time (P<0.001). From presentation to last service rating, over one-third of young people had significant improvements in psychological distress and a similar proportion in psychosocial functioning; just under half improved in self-reported quality of life. Significant improvement on any of the three outcomes was shown for 70.96% of headspace mental health clients. After 16 years of headspace implementation, positive outcomes are being achieved, particularly when multi-dimensional outcomes are considered. A suite of outcomes that capture meaningful change for young people's quality of life, distress and functioning, is critical for early intervention, primary care settings with diverse client presentations, like the headspace youth mental healthcare initiative.

Australia’s headspace initiative is world-leading in nation-wide youth mental healthcare reform for young people aged 12 to 25 years, now with 16 years of implementation. This paper examines changes in the key outcomes of psychological distress, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life for young people accessing headspace centres across Australia for mental health problems. Routinely collected data from headspace clients commencing an episode of care within the data collection period, 1 April 2019 to 30 March 2020, and at 90-day follow-up were analysed. Participants came from the 108 fully-established headspace centres across Australia, and comprised 58,233 young people aged 12–25 years first accessing headspace centres for mental health problems during the data collection period. Main outcome measures were self-reported psychological distress and quality of life, and clinician-reported social and occupational functioning. Most headspace mental health clients presented with depression and anxiety issues (75.21%). There were 35.27% with a diagnosis: overall, 21.74% diagnosed with anxiety, 18.51% with depression, and 8.60% were sub-syndromal. Younger males were more likely to present for anger issues. Cognitive behavioural therapy was the most common treatment. There were significant improvements in all outcome scores over time (P<0.001). From presentation to last service rating, over one-third had significant improvements in psychological distress and a similar proportion in psychosocial functioning; just under half improved in self-reported quality of life. Significant improvement on any of the three outcomes was shown for 70.96% of headspace mental health clients. After 16 years of headspace implementation, positive outcomes are being achieved, particularly when multi-dimensional outcomes are considered. A suite of outcomes that capture meaningful change for young people’s quality of life, distress and functioning, is critical for early intervention, primary care settings with diverse client presentations, such as the headspace youth mental healthcare initiative.

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