Can We Build ‘Somewhere That You Want to Go’? Conducting Collaborative Mental Health Service Design with New Zealand’s Young People

Abstract

Globally, young people are at high risk of mental health problems, but have poor engagement with services. Several international models have emerged seeking to address this gap by providing youth-specific care designed in collaboration with young people. In this study, 94 young people in New Zealand participated in collaborative workshops exploring their vision of an ideal mental health service. Participants were aged 16–25. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify seven themes. These describe the ideal mental health service for these young people as comfortable, accessible, welcoming, embedded in the community, holistic, adaptable, and youth-focused. In addition to describing how services might better serve the needs of youth, this article outlines a method for adapting international principles for youth-friendly care to the specific needs of a population of young people. This article provides supporting evidence that services should consider how to improve their engagement with youth through collaboration with local populations of young people.

Subjective Wellbeing among University Students and Recent Graduates: Evidence from the United Kingdom

“…Notably, while the pandemic as a crisis can act as a catalyst to address longstanding challenges with student subjective wellbeing [ 1 ], policies and ensuant action should be informed by the needs of students and recent graduates to authentically support their subjective wellbeing [ 4 , 13 , 14 ]. For example, the acquisition of personal resources can be driven by the extent to which students believe themselves to be active and involved citizens within higher education institutions [ 15 ].…”

Mental health of young Australians: dealing with a public health crisis

“…The Youth Enhanced Services (YES) initiative funded from 2016 by the federal government is a weak and piecemeal response commissioned by Primary Health Networks (PHNs) with little regard to evidence or integration with headspace centres or state services. With the exception of Victoria, which is expanding and restructuring its specialist mental health system to create a subsystem of care for 12–25‐year‐olds to vertically integrate with headspace, state public systems persist with an outdated child and adolescent mental health and adult mental health service model split with a boundary at 18 years, which, despite the best efforts of dedicated staff, is obsolete and fundamentally flawed 27‐30 …”

“…With the exception of Victoria, which is expanding and restructuring its specialist mental health system to create a subsystem of care for 12-25-year-olds to vertically integrate with headspace, state public systems persist with an outdated child and adolescent Perspectives mental health and adult mental health service model split with a boundary at 18 years, which, despite the best efforts of dedicated staff, is obsolete and fundamentally flawed. [27][28][29][30] Although mental illness is the largest cause of disability, 18 it is poorly served by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Early intervention and recovery -essential principles of youth mental health -are in direct conflict with the current NDIS model, 31 which therefore makes any return on investment impossible.…”

A child and adult psychiatrist discussion on the development of a youth mental health service

“…dropping-out" of treatment. Young people have voiced the desire for a service that is "youth friendly" and accessible at their stage of life (Stubbing and Gibson, 2021). Therefore, traditional models of mental health are arguably outdated and create a fragility in services where they need to be the most robust (McGorry et al, 2007).…”

“…Fusar-Poli (2019) suggests traditional service structures do not reflect the scientific evidence for best practice and can create barriers for young adults accessing services and treatment as well as leading to young people “dropping-out” of treatment. Young people have voiced the desire for a service that is “youth friendly” and accessible at their stage of life (Stubbing and Gibson, 2021). Therefore, traditional models of mental health are arguably outdated and create a fragility in services where they need to be the most robust (McGorry et al , 2007).…”