The importance and benefits of youth participation in mental health settings from the perspective of the headspace Gosford Youth Alliance in Australia

Coates, D; Howe, D

The importance and benefits of youth participation in mental health settings from the perspective of the headspace Gosford Youth Alliance in Australia

Coates, D

Howe, D

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Children and Youth Services Review, 2014, 46 pp. 294 - 299
Issue Date:: 2014-11-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Coates, D https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4463-7615	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Howe, D	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-11-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Children and Youth Services Review, 2014, 46 pp. 294 - 299	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0190-7409	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128903
dc.description.abstract	© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Objectives: Young people's participation in decision making that affects them is increasingly recognised and valued as a right. Youth participation in mental health settings is fundamental to service design and delivery, and is beneficial for the young people as well as the organisation. Headspace recognises the many benefits of youth participation with its national and local youth participation initiatives. In 2013, headspace Gosford in Australia established its current youth participation model, called the Youth Alliance (YA), consisting of 12 young people. These young people contribute ideas and opinions around service design and delivery, and participate in a range of activities. Method: This paper presents the findings of a focus group conducted with the YA immediately following recruitment. All 12 young people participated in a two hour focus group which sought to identify the key reasons these young people joined the YA, and what they hope to achieve in their capacity of YA consultants. Results: The two main reasons participants joined the YA are to help 'overcome barriers to help seeking and ensure young people get the support they need' and 'to build confidence, social skills and make new friends'. The barriers to help seeking identified by the participants are consistent with those outlined in the literature. Conclusion: Youth participation in youth mental health settings is beneficial to young people as well as organisations and the community, and it is crucial that strategies are put in place to increase youth participation. The ways in which these young people perceive their participation as beneficial to themselves as well as the organisation and the community is the focus of this paper.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Children and Youth Services Review	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.09.012	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Social Work	en_US
dc.title	The importance and benefits of youth participation in mental health settings from the perspective of the headspace Gosford Youth Alliance in Australia	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	46	en_US
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics	en_US
utslib.for	1607 Social Work	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Midwifery
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	46	en_US

Abstract:

© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Objectives: Young people's participation in decision making that affects them is increasingly recognised and valued as a right. Youth participation in mental health settings is fundamental to service design and delivery, and is beneficial for the young people as well as the organisation. Headspace recognises the many benefits of youth participation with its national and local youth participation initiatives. In 2013, headspace Gosford in Australia established its current youth participation model, called the Youth Alliance (YA), consisting of 12 young people. These young people contribute ideas and opinions around service design and delivery, and participate in a range of activities. Method: This paper presents the findings of a focus group conducted with the YA immediately following recruitment. All 12 young people participated in a two hour focus group which sought to identify the key reasons these young people joined the YA, and what they hope to achieve in their capacity of YA consultants. Results: The two main reasons participants joined the YA are to help 'overcome barriers to help seeking and ensure young people get the support they need' and 'to build confidence, social skills and make new friends'. The barriers to help seeking identified by the participants are consistent with those outlined in the literature. Conclusion: Youth participation in youth mental health settings is beneficial to young people as well as organisations and the community, and it is crucial that strategies are put in place to increase youth participation. The ways in which these young people perceive their participation as beneficial to themselves as well as the organisation and the community is the focus of this paper.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128903