The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years
<strong>Aims and method</strong> The Norfolk Youth Service was created in 2012 in response to calls to redesign mental health services to better meet the needs of young people. The new service model transcends traditional boundaries by creating a single, ‘youth friendly’ service for youn...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2018
|
| _version_ | 1826259702647881728 |
|---|---|
| author | Maxwell, S Ugochukwu, O Clarke, T Gee, B Clarke, E Westgate, H Wilson, J Lennox, B Goodyer, I |
| author_facet | Maxwell, S Ugochukwu, O Clarke, T Gee, B Clarke, E Westgate, H Wilson, J Lennox, B Goodyer, I |
| author_sort | Maxwell, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <strong>Aims and method</strong> The Norfolk Youth Service was created in 2012 in response to calls to redesign mental health services to better meet the needs of young people. The new service model transcends traditional boundaries by creating a single, ‘youth friendly’ service for young people aged 14–25 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the transition to this new model on patterns of referral, acceptance and service use. We analysed routinely collected data on young people aged 14–25 years referred for secondary mental healthcare in Norfolk before and after implementation of the youth mental health service. The number of referrals, their age and gender, proportion of referrals accepted and average number of service contacts per referral by age pre- and post-implementation were compared. <br/><br/> <strong>Results</strong> Referrals increased by 68% following implementation of the new service model, but the proportion of referrals accepted fell by 27 percentage points. Before implementation of the youth service, there was a clear discrepancy between the peak age of referral and the age of those seen by services. Following implementation, service contacts were more equitable across ages, with no marked discontinuity at age 18 years. <br/><br/> <strong>Clinical implications</strong> Our findings suggest that the transformation of services may have succeeded in reducing the ‘cliff edge’ in access to mental health services at the transition to adulthood. However, the sharp rise in referrals and reduction in the proportion of referrals accepted highlights the importance of considering possible unintended consequences of new service models. <br/><br/> <strong>Declaration of interests</strong> None. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:53:59Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:1131cfe7-50b9-4b07-baf6-b60ebc07de50 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:53:59Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:1131cfe7-50b9-4b07-baf6-b60ebc07de502022-03-26T10:00:57ZThe effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 yearsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1131cfe7-50b9-4b07-baf6-b60ebc07de50EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordCambridge University Press2018Maxwell, SUgochukwu, OClarke, TGee, BClarke, EWestgate, HWilson, JLennox, BGoodyer, I<strong>Aims and method</strong> The Norfolk Youth Service was created in 2012 in response to calls to redesign mental health services to better meet the needs of young people. The new service model transcends traditional boundaries by creating a single, ‘youth friendly’ service for young people aged 14–25 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the transition to this new model on patterns of referral, acceptance and service use. We analysed routinely collected data on young people aged 14–25 years referred for secondary mental healthcare in Norfolk before and after implementation of the youth mental health service. The number of referrals, their age and gender, proportion of referrals accepted and average number of service contacts per referral by age pre- and post-implementation were compared. <br/><br/> <strong>Results</strong> Referrals increased by 68% following implementation of the new service model, but the proportion of referrals accepted fell by 27 percentage points. Before implementation of the youth service, there was a clear discrepancy between the peak age of referral and the age of those seen by services. Following implementation, service contacts were more equitable across ages, with no marked discontinuity at age 18 years. <br/><br/> <strong>Clinical implications</strong> Our findings suggest that the transformation of services may have succeeded in reducing the ‘cliff edge’ in access to mental health services at the transition to adulthood. However, the sharp rise in referrals and reduction in the proportion of referrals accepted highlights the importance of considering possible unintended consequences of new service models. <br/><br/> <strong>Declaration of interests</strong> None. |
| spellingShingle | Maxwell, S Ugochukwu, O Clarke, T Gee, B Clarke, E Westgate, H Wilson, J Lennox, B Goodyer, I The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years |
| title | The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years |
| title_full | The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years |
| title_fullStr | The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years |
| title_short | The effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14-25 years |
| title_sort | effect of a youth mental health service model on access to secondary mental healthcare for young people aged 14 25 years |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maxwells theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT ugochukwuo theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT clarket theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT geeb theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT clarkee theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT westgateh theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT wilsonj theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT lennoxb theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT goodyeri theeffectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT maxwells effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT ugochukwuo effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT clarket effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT geeb effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT clarkee effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT westgateh effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT wilsonj effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT lennoxb effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years AT goodyeri effectofayouthmentalhealthservicemodelonaccesstosecondarymentalhealthcareforyoungpeopleaged1425years |