Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of young people in an early psychosis program towards participating in a 10-week photovoice and exhibition project and the themes that had emerged from their photographs. Method: Photographs create meanings and participants are able to tell their stories in a meaningful way. Eleven clients who had gone through a prior 10-week photovoice project and exhibition consented to being interviewed for this study. Clients chose and brought to the interview photos of theirs that had been exhibited. Structured questions were asked to generate discussions. Findings: Findings illustrated that participants were keen to educate the general public on mental health issues. They craved acceptance and were keen to make connections and build relationships. They were their own agents of change. Supportive networks create hope, which in turn helps people with mental health issues to reframe their outlook. Conclusion: The results of this study are important and provide occupational therapists with another tool for intervention and advocacy. As both photovoice and occupational therapy focus on the process rather than the product, occupational therapists can utilize photography in groups creatively to generate more client-and peer-led discussions.

Young people experience high rates of mental health issues. However, many do not seek professional help. In order to encourage help-seeking behavior among young people, it is important to ensure that services are youth-friendly. This study aims to evaluate the Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT)’s mental health assessment service model using the World Health Organization (WHO) youth-friendly health service framework of accessibility, acceptability, and appropriateness (AAA), and to ascertain the extent to which the CHAT service model is youth-friendly. Three hundred young people aged 16–30 years, who had gone through CHAT mental health assessments, completed a 27-item questionnaire. Majority rated the items in the questionnaire favorably. Our results suggest that majority of the young people who accessed CHAT mental health assessment service found it to be youth-friendly.

There is a steady increase in our referrals; majority are self-referred or referred from school and community counsellors. This attests to the success of our general outreach and targeted capacity-building efforts. Cognizant of young persons' distress, CHAT continues to work with downstream services for continuity of care, which also presents opportunities to consolidate and expand our network of specialist and community partners. Future directions seek to address current challenges: having a mobile platform to complement our face-to-face assessments, and building collaborations to provide holistic services for young persons.

No abstract