Service user experience of the Norfolk youth service

Abstract

Purpose There is an international drive to improve mental health services for young people. This study aims to investigate service user experience of a youth mental health service in Norfolk, UK. In addition to suggesting improvements to this service, recommendations are made for the development of youth mental health services in general. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was used. Quantitative data from satisfaction questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics and compared between two time points. A semi-structured interview was used to generate qualitative data. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the interview transcripts and triangulation was used to synthesise quantitative and qualitative data. Findings Service users appeared satisfied with the service. Significant improvements in satisfaction were found between two time points. Qualitative analysis identified three main themes that were important to service users, including support, information and personhood. Practical implications Recommendations for the development of youth mental health services are provided. Although these are based on findings from the Norfolk youth service, they are likely to apply to other mental health services for young people. Originality/value Mental health care for young people requires significant improvement. The Norfolk youth service is one of the first services of its kind in the UK. The findings from this study might be helpful to consider in the development of youth mental health services across the world.

Development and Validation of a Routine Session-by-Session Experience Measure for Youth Mental Health Services: My Youth Mental Health Session Experience (MySE)

“…This trend is consistent with earlier studies of overall service (rather than per session) experience for headspace centre services, 22 and has also been demonstrated for headspace online services. 25 There is surprisingly little published literature on age differences in youth mental health services, 26 despite the wide age range and major developmental changes that occur during this period. For example, the youth-specific outcome measure, MLT, shows age and gender group differences that are developmentally congruent and important to consider for clinical interpretation.…”

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

“…A number of services have emerged around the world with the intention of filling this gap for youth specific care in accordance with some or all of these principles [ 23 ]. These include Australia’s headspace [ 37 ]; Jigsaw, in Ireland [ 5 ]; Maison des Adolescents, in France [ 38 ], Youth Can IMPACT and ACCESS Open Minds, in Canada [ 39 , 40 ]; and other programs in The Netherlands [ 41 ]; the United Kingdom [ 42 , 43 ]; Ireland; and Canada [ 23 ]. New Zealand currently has Youth One Stop Shops, a youth-specific integrated health care service with numerous locations.…”

“…Many services have involved young people in the development of interventions and services [ 5 , 40 , 42 , 52 ] with Hetrick and colleagues [ 23 ] identifying that Jigsaw, headspace, Youth One Stop Shops, Foundry, and ACCESS Open Minds all explicitly involved young people not only in the design process, but in on-going evaluation of the service. In the headspace model, youth participation is expected at all levels including in their own care and in on-going service development, as well as high level service design, delivery, and evaluation [ 53 ].…”