Implementing child and youth mental health services: early lessons from the Australian Primary Health Network Lead Site Project

Sanne Oostermeijer; Bridget Bassilios; Angela Nicholas; Michelle Williamson; Anna Machlin; Meredith Harris; Philip Burgess; Jane Pirkis

doi:10.1186/s13033-021-00440-8

Implementing child and youth mental health services: early lessons from the Australian Primary Health Network Lead Site Project

Int J Ment Health Syst. 2021 Feb 23;15(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s13033-021-00440-8.

Authors

Sanne Oostermeijer¹, Bridget Bassilios², Angela Nicholas², Michelle Williamson², Anna Machlin², Meredith Harris³, Philip Burgess³, Jane Pirkis²

Affiliations

¹ The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia. sanne.oostermeijer@unimelb.edu.au.
² The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
³ The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Abstract

Aim: Primary mental health care services play an important role in prevention and early intervention efforts to reduce the prevalence and impact of mental health problems amongst young people. This paper aimed to (1) investigate whether mental health services commissioned by Australia's 31 Primary Health Networks provided accessible care and increasingly reached children and youth across Australia, and (2) identify the challenges of, and facilitating factors to, implementing services for youth with, or at risk of, severe mental illness (i.e., youth enhanced services) in 10 PHNs which acted as mental health reform leaders (i.e., Lead Sites).

Methods: We used mixed methods, sourcing data from: a national minimum data set that captured information on consumers and the services they received via all 31 PHNs from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2017; consultations with Lead Site staff and their regional stakeholders; and observational data from two Lead Site meetings.

Results: Many children and youth receiving services were male and up to 10% were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people. The majority of young people came from areas of greater disadvantage. For most children and youth receiving services their diagnosis was unknown, or they did not have a formal diagnosis. Both child and youth service uptake showed a modest increase over time. Six key themes emerged around the implementation of youth enhanced services: service access and gaps, workforce and expertise, funding and guidance, integrated and flexible service models, service promotion, and data collection, access and sharing.

Conclusions: Early findings suggest that PHN-commissioned services provide accessible care and increasingly reach children and youth. Learnings from stakeholders indicate that innovative and flexible service models in response to local youth mental health needs may be a key to success.

Keywords: Adolescence; Australia; Child and adolescent mental health; Health care reform; Mental health; Primary care; Service implementation; Service uptake.