Creating an innovative youth mental health service in the United Kingdom: The Norfolk Youth Service

Abstract

Young people attempting to access mental health services in the United Kingdom often find traditional models of care outdated, rigid, inaccessible and unappealing. Policy recommendations, research and service user opinion suggest that reform is needed to reflect the changing needs of young people. There is significant motivation in the United Kingdom to transform mental health services for young people, and this paper aims to describe the rationale, development and implementation of a novel youth mental health service in the United Kingdom, the Norfolk Youth Service. The Norfolk Youth Service model is described as a service model case study. The service rationale, national and local drivers, principles, aims, model, research priorities and future directions are reported. The Norfolk Youth Service is an innovative example of mental health transformation in the United Kingdom, comprising a pragmatic, assertive and "youth-friendly" service for young people aged 14 to 25 that transcends traditional service boundaries. The service was developed in collaboration with young people and partnership agencies and is based on an engaging and inclusive ethos. The service is a social-recovery oriented, evidence-based and aims to satisfy recent policy guidance. The redesign and transformation of youth mental health services in the United Kingdom is long overdue. The Norfolk Youth Service represents an example of reform that aims to meet the developmental and transitional needs of young people at the same time as remaining youth-oriented.

Clinician‐rated and self‐reported psychotic‐like experiences in individuals accessing a specialist Youth Mental Health Service

“…The study took place in the Specialist Youth Mental Health Service (SYMHS) pilot in Norfolk, UK (Wilson et al ., ). The SYMHS pilot was established to work with young people aged 14–25 years who were experiencing severe non‐psychotic mental health difficulties (defined as Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS; Wing, Curtis, & Beevor, ) clusters 4 and above) in addition to poor social/occupational functioning (defined as a score of 50 or below on the Global Assessment of Functioning for those aged over 18 or a score of 40 or below on the Child Global Assessment Scale for those aged under 18).…”

Leveraging implementation science to reduce inequities in Children’s mental health care: highlights from a multidisciplinary international colloquium

“…Related to funding, presenters identified how challenges in accessing high quality, evidence-based mental health care exist universally, even in settings with policies that allow for universal coverage of services. For example, England has mental health parity and has widely implemented EBPs, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, but long waitlists still limit access to services [69,70]. Even in Norway, despite impressive and widespread EBP implementation initiatives, challenges were described by presenters related to scaling (up and out) and sustaining EBP implementation.…”

Rethinking service design for youth with mental health needs: The development of the Youth Wellness Centre, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

“…LGBTQ+ youth (Davidson, 2015;Meyer, 2003) are at increased risk of developing mental illnesses. In light of this, models of care focusing on early detection and intervention have been on the rise (Rickwood, Telford, Parker, Tanti, & McGorry, 2014;Wilson et al, 2017). Internationally, mental healthcare centres focusing on young adults (ages 12-29) have emerged in the past 20 years in Australia (Orygen, headspace), the United Kingdom (Young Minds) and Ireland (Jigsaw).…”