WH&Y authors: Doctor Patricia Cullen
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Injury is the leading cause of death and hospitalisation among young people in Australia, of which transport injury and suicide account for two thirds of deaths.
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Injury-related death and disability is higher among young men, young people residing in rural or remote areas, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
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The Teenage Decade is an important stage of mental health development, with more than 75 percent of mental health disorders developing before the age of 25. Mental health and wellbeing can be impacted by experiences of trauma, abuse, family violence, poverty, housing insecurity, racism and discrimination.
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The number of young people who experience psychological distress is increasing. Experiencing distress and mental health disorders during the Teenage Decade can have a profound impact on teenagers’ wellbeing, now and in adulthood.
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Injuries sustained during the Teenage Decade can have lifelong implications including permanent disability and reduced opportunities for education, employment and recreation.
WHY ARE WE RESEARCHING THIS?
The health system in Australia, dauntingly complex for most of us, is especially challenging for young people. Often, teenagers are required to use health services that fail to meet their specific and diverse needs, particularly those who need support for mental health disorders.
Young people are increasingly presenting to Emergency Departments in crisis and in urgent need of mental health care, including care after injury due to self-harm, intentional poisoning or overdose. This indicates that mental health needs are not being met in primary health or community mental health care settings. Additionally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teenagers, particularly those in out of home care, may face additional barriers accessing services that are culturally safe and free from racism.
We need to ensure that all young people have easy and timely access to quality healthcare that supports not only their physical health, but also their mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.
The Injury and Mental Health In Emergency Departments project is collecting the evidence, establishing the partnerships, and developing the solutions that will transform health service pathways for teenagers in need of mental-health care.
WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?
In the first phase of this project, we are looking at what’s driving the increased demand for crisis care among teenagers by investigating patterns of emergency service use among young people with mental health-related presentations. This will contribute to a deeper understanding of what goes on for teenagers ‘before-during-and-after’ their experience in the Emergency Department by giving us insights into why so many teenagers begin with a call to emergency services. Later, we will expand that ‘before-during-and-after’ view by finding out more about the experiences of young people in Emergency Departments, and what happens to them once they leave or are discharged. We will also investigate the experiences and challenges of clinicians, hospitals, primary care and mental health services, gaining insights into how treatment and referral pathways for teenagers can be strengthened.
In the second phase, we will work with young people and clinicians to develop innovative and cost-effective models of health services that really work for teenagers with injury and mental health concerns. We will determine the role of gender-sensitive, trauma-informed and culturally safe mental-health care. And we will explore how digital health solutions can be used to strengthen care systems and promote better health among young people and their families.
SOURCES
About The Authors
Doctor
Patricia Cullen is an NHMRC Early Career Fellow in the School of Public Health at UNSW where she co-...
Partners
We acknowledge the funding support of the NHMRC and the contributions of our collaborators across Australia.
