Providing adolescents with mental health services

Since 2003 adolescents and their families in the Southern Highlands have been able to access their own specialist mental health services in Bowral. Following consultation with the young people in the Wingecarribee Shire their choice of a name for this unique health service was "Centre of Youth" now abbreviated to CoY. When a change of venue was required the Bowral Mental Health Service was very fortunate to be able to move into a renovated building on the campus of the Bowral District Hospital. Renovations were designed to make a functional (and funky) building out of a previously long-unused cottage. The service was also indeed fortunate to receive some wonderful support from the local community, organisations and business people to enable the CoY Cottage to be youth friendly. Of special note was the generosity of an individual benefactor who provided most of the furnishings required by the staff and patients. The small group of staff who provide the services to the adolescents and their families consist of a small number of nursing and allied health staff. The service has been indeed fortunate to attract some very capable staff, including intern psychologists, who ably support the other clinicians. They are also supported by the clinical expertise and experience of a well qualified Visiting Adolescent Psychiatrist who conducts a clinical session at CoY one day each week. Staff take referrals to their service from paediatricians, school counsellors, general practioners, family members, and the service providers of other organisatations. The service provided is especially focussed on the early identification of the onset of psychoses, and of eating disorders and depression. Where there are behavioural issues with adolescents the staff are able to provide some support to families and schools on how to best manage, and hopefully, modify those behaviours. As a general rule, most adolescent mental health services will have a target population of between 12 and 25 years of age. In the case of CoY, because it has a limited staff profile and specialist medical input, the age of their patients is generally limited to between 12 and 18. With the adolescent mental health service at Bowral limited by a low staffing profile and by being an outpatient service, adolescents in need of a more intensive and inpatient treatment are transferred to the specialist adolescent units at Campbelltown Hospital. Recently, one staff member of the Bowral Adolescent Mental Health team received additional training at the NSW Institute of Psychiatry to become an Accredited Person as described in the NSW Mental Health Act 2007. All staff at the CoY adolescent mental health service also take on the role of care coordination with many of their patients who attend the centre. A recent survey of patients and their families has indicated significant satisfaction with the work of the staff of this much needed service for young people.