Workforce

Many different professionals are involved in young people’s mental health care: psychiatrists, psychologists, primary care specialists, alcohol and drug workers, youth workers, peer workers, teachers and others. Youth mental health services need to integrate those functions within and across organisations if they are to get the best from their staff, promote retention and prevent stress and burnout. The Youth Integration Project has identified steps to address these issues and move towards more holistic mental health care for youth.

How to Use This Section

Download the below resource toolkit and refer to the Implementation Guidance documentation (3a) for best practice advice and complete the Actions Checklist (3b) as you continue implementation and evaluation of your progress.

Workforce Challenges Implementation Guidance

Integrate practitioner training for coordinated responses

Working in an integrated model will be a new experience for many practitioners. As a manager or leader you can audit your current skills base and then develop a plan to build capability. This can include joint training with partners to enhance cohesion and build extended teams. As well as clinical or psychosocial support skills, think about the “soft” or interpersonal skills your staff and their line managers will need to work effectively in an integrated model. These might include:

Adaptive and flexible practice
Effective communication
Relationship building and managing
Person-centred care

Avoid misunderstandings by understanding roles and culture

Diversity is a strength; effective service integration needs a deliberate focus on understanding the differences in the roles and cultures of external partners and teams, along with their place within the youth mental health landscape. You can improve cohesion and integration outcomes by:

Identifying and engaging champions for driving integration within each service
Identifying opportunities for co-location
Inviting other services to present their service model and ways of working to your team

Embed lived experience through peer workers and care coordinators

Youth peer workers provide vital emotional support for young consumers, while their experience in navigating the mental health system can provide valuable insight for other staff and external partners.

Similarly, care coordinators can facilitate greater continuity of care, improve access to outside referrals, problem-solve barriers that may arise and provide extended handovers to external services.

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Integrated Care Training Resources

Mindgardens Neuroscience Network acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures, and to Elders past, present and emerging.

We acknowledge the voices of people with lived experience, their carers, families and kinship groups. We recognise the expertise acquired through living with a mental health, drug and alcohol or neurological disorder and acknowledge those who care for people on their recovery journey. We place lived experience at the heart of all that we do.

Brings together the strengths of four founding organisations