The following is a news item from Hafal’s Big Lottery-funded Young People’s Information Hub. To access the Hub please click here.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has published a very useful briefing which looks at recent research literature (since 2000) on the transition from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adults’ services for young people with psychological, emotional or behavioural problems.
This briefing asks:
• What do professionals, young people, parents, carers and families think about mental health service transitions and what has their experience been?
• What evidence is there for good practice and service models in supporting successful service transitions?
Key messages include:
• Moving from child and adolescent mental health services to adult services is difficult for many young people, their parents and carers.
• Recurrent problems include limited participation of young people, high eligibility thresholds for entry into adult mental health services and inconsistent support during transition. This leads to some young people ceasing to use services until a crisis occurs.
• Service transition is a process, and needs to take account of the wider context of young people’s lives, including education, employment, housing and overall health needs.
• Young people, their families and carers want their views to be taken seriously and to participate actively in the process of transition. They value good information, consistent support from a key worker and flexible, non-stigmatising community-based services appropriate for their age group.
For more information and to download a copy of the publication please visit: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/briefings/briefing37/index.asp