Howe Deborah, Coates Dominiek, Batchelor Samantha
Service Manager, Children and Young People's Mental Health, Central Coast Local Health District, Gosford, NSW, Australia
Research Officer, Children and Young People's Mental Health, Central Coast Local Health District, Gosford, NSW, Australia.
Australas Psychiatry. 2014 Aug;22(4):374-377. doi: 10.1177/1039856214540758. Epub 2014 Jul 9.
Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems for young Australians, many do not have ready access to treatment or are reluctant to seek help. Until recently there was a tendency for young Australians to fall between the gap of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Adult Mental Health Services, and this has contributed to low rates of service use for young people. In 2006, the Australian Government sought to redress this gap in service delivery with its establishment of the Australian National Youth Mental Health Foundation, headspace. This paper presents demographic data collected at headspace Gosford over a 5.5-year period.
The data presented indicates that headspace Gosford has been successful in improving early access to mental health treatment for young people on the Central Coast, in particular for young people aged 14-18. Headspace Gosford has attracted young people of both sexes, with a higher proportion of females. The majority of young people access headspace for mental health problems, predominantly depression and anxiety; however, a significant proportion report physical health or alcohol and drug-related reasons. The likelihood of these referral reasons is informed by gender and age.
尽管澳大利亚年轻人心理健康问题的患病率很高，但许多人无法及时获得治疗或不愿寻求帮助。直到最近，澳大利亚年轻人往往处于儿童和青少年心理健康服务与成人心理健康服务的空白地带，这导致年轻人的服务利用率较低。2006年，澳大利亚政府通过设立澳大利亚国家青年心理健康基金会“headspace”来弥补服务提供方面的这一差距。本文介绍了在戈斯福德“headspace”中心5.5年期间收集的人口统计数据。
所呈现的数据表明，戈斯福德“headspace”中心成功地改善了中央海岸地区年轻人尽早获得心理健康治疗的机会，特别是对于14 - 18岁的年轻人。戈斯福德“headspace”中心吸引了男女两性的年轻人，女性比例更高。大多数年轻人因心理健康问题前往“headspace”中心，主要是抑郁症和焦虑症；然而，相当一部分人报告是出于身体健康或与酒精和药物相关的原因。这些转诊原因的可能性受到性别和年龄的影响。
