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...

Description complète

Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Maxwell, S, Ugochukwu, O, Clarke, T, Gee, B, Clarke, E, Westgate, H, Wilson, J, Lennox, B, Goodyer, I
Format: Journal article
Langue:English
Publié: 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