Delivering Youth-Specific Mental Health Services: The Advantages of a Collaborative, Multi-Disciplinary System
- 1 January 2009
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Australasian Psychiatry
- Vol. 17 (3), 189-194
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10398560802657322
Abstract
Objective: Evidence suggests that quality mental health care is based on well-integrated multi-disciplinary care provided by a range of mental health, substance use, and general healthcare clinicians. There is a growing focus in Australia on providing this type of mental health care to young people, particularly those in the early stages of a major disorder. The development of such services has proceeded on the basis of limited service-based data and has also been impeded by current healthcare funding structures. Methods: This report outlines the service characteristics of three models: a traditional ‘fee for service’ model, a specialized youth mental health clinic, and a new headspace multi-disciplinary site in South Western Sydney. Results: Naturalistic data from these three services collected during their developmental phase indicate that each model is associated with differential demographic, illness and service organization characteristics. Conclusions: Compared with ‘fee-for-service’ type care, specialized youth models provide greater access to a broad range of multi-disciplinary clinicians.Keywords
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