Study maps key components of optimal mental health care for young adults

Australian mental health services have been criticised for not meeting the mental health care needs of young people: now a Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR) study has found seven key service components are needed to provide comprehensive, age-appropriate mental health care for young adults.

In young people aged 15-24 years, mental disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability, suicide is now the leading cause of death, and the COVID-19 pandemic is driving up rates of depression and anxiety across the population with younger adults and women most affected.

To understand what to consider when planning age-appropriate services for young adults, QCMHR researcher and UQ School of Public Health PhD student, Kate Gossip undertook the first-ever study to identify and describe key service components by examining the literature and drawing on a panel of experts in youth mental health.

She said the study identified that seven key components are important to consider.

“The study found the key components of optimal mental health care for young adults to be structured psychological therapies, care coordination and liaison, vocational support, youth development, peer support, lifestyle interventions, and family and support network services,” Ms Gossip said.

“Of the components of care identified, two were classified as clinical components (structured psychological therapies; care coordination and liaison), three as non-clinical components (vocational support; youth development; peer support) and two as integrated non-clinical and clinical components (lifestyle interventions; family and support network services).”

Ms Gossip said the findings provide mental health service planners with a framework of services that should be considered when planning and resourcing services for this age range.

“We found few examples of service models specifically tailored to young adults, with most designed for broader youth populations – however, the needs of young people aged 18-24 are very different from those aged in their early teens,” she said.

“This makes it more important than ever that young adults have access to age-appropriate and evidence-based services that are developmentally adjusted for their specific needs, and that prevent them from experiencing recurrent or persistent mental illness.

“While all key service components should be available within a mental health service system, not all young adults will need all components and not all providers will provide all of the components.

“What is important is that a comprehensive suite of integrated and coordinated components is on offer within the mental health system to address the clinical and functional needs of young adults living with mental illness as needed.”

This paper was published in Early Intervention in Psychiatry, in November 2021 and derived from original research conducted for the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and all Australian state and territory health departments.