Evaluating a mental health care program for youth and young adults
What is it about?
Service delivery models to address the mental health care needs of emerging adults are being created to help address the apparent epidemic of mental health and addiction problems in young people worldwide. This study evaluates one such program that is focused on early stage intervention for mood and anxiety concerns in individuals age 16-25. The study describes the pre-entry characteristics of people seeking help and includes intermediate-term follow up on symptom severity, functional impairment and quality of life for these individuals. It also reports disengagement at various stages as well as satisfaction with the care provided.
Why is it important?
Increasing numbers of emerging adults are reporting moderate to severe levels of depression, anxiety and resulting functional impairment. Growing efforts to create health care models to address this problem must be met with meaningful evaluations of such models to determine their efficacy and utility. Without such evaluations resources could be used with little positive result. This study evaluated a "real world" model of treatment that could be implemented broadly. Details of the population utilizing services and the description of those services provided can help other research teams compare this model to their own.