Youth Mental Health Project July 2015-January 2016

Mental Health is major cause of morbidity in this age group

Why is youth mental health important? 1.Coincides with key developmental milestones which may be disrupted by the illness resulting in social disability. 2.Coincides with transitions between a range of services. “System is weakest where it needs to be strongest” 3.Track study by Singh et al 2009 found that only 4 out of 90 young people made the ‘optimal’ transition from CAMHs to AMHs. 4.Young people access and use services differently to adults and provision needs to reflect this. In Australia only 13% young men with mental health disorders accessed mental health services

Nearly half (45%) of young people with mental health problems withdraw from full-time education by the age of 15. Children and Young Peoples Mental Health coalition. 50% of adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood Less than 50% were treated appropriately at the time Reference; Green H 2005 Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain 2004 Statistics from Young Minds

What do young people say about services they have experienced/need? Make your mark campaign Young people and their families find services beneficial when they have accessed them. However, pathways into services can be unclear and differences between services can be unclear. ‘ I just couldn’t do anything, the thought of going out was horrible… I just kept shutting myself away’ – Beth, 16

JSNA (East Sussex) Service users voice –  Peer support and socialisation opportunities  Increased awareness and prioritisation in schools  Improved transition to adult services ‘I was really, really, really distressed… now I realise it’s normal and it’s not unusual to get mental health problems’ - Sam, 16

JSNA (East Sussex) Providers voice - To further develop multi-agency partnership working. Investment in early identification, prevention and intervention Providers recognise a large unmet need for those not meeting tier 3 criteria Improved accessibility and transparency regarding eligibility criteria

 Norfolk…. Fully integrated service for staffed by CAMHS and adult services  Headspace, Australia…  Crawley, pilot project… non statutory base with CAMHS input  Ireland……youth mental health centres What would work best for Hastings?

‘Right here’ was a £6 million programme running from The aim was to develop effective new approaches to supporting mental health of young people in the UK aged  Consult with young people  Work with voluntary sector providers and youth counselling services  Consider developing a multi-skilled, multi-agency adolescent health team/hub that includes tier 2 CAMHs professionals, substance misuse workers and sexual health workers.  Greater emphasis should be placed on supporting young people with lower level needs.  Involve young people in the creation of promotional materials as they will help tailor it to peers.

Recognising there’s a Problem ‘I don’t talk about how I feel, I don’t talk about my emotions and all that cause it makes me feel vulnerable ’ – Sam, 19 Largest ever anti stigma campaign for young people’s mental health has been launched…. Raising awareness is great But…. How do we ensure young people find the help they need first time ?

Thank you very much. Any questions?