- Title
- Youth mental health competencies in regional general practice
- Creator
- Smith, Oliver; Bergmann, Jessica; Schall, Ulrich
- Relation
- Australasian Psychiatry Vol. 29, Issue 2, p. 129-133
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1039856220970058
- Publisher
- Sage
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Objective: General practitioners (GPs) are key health professionals for referrals to mental health specialists. Youth mental health issues are particularly challenging, requiring a competent assessment and understanding of appropriate referral pathways. We surveyed local GPs about their understanding of youth mental health problems and needs to competently look after young patients. Methods: GPs working in the Hunter region were contacted via email, fax and post over a 6-month period in 2019. Results: Seventy-five GPs participated. They reported 577 of 1698 (34%) of young people seen 2 weeks prior to being surveyed presented with a mental health problem. Predominantly, referrals were to private practice psychologists and Headspace. Almost a third (31%) reported having limited understanding of ‘at-risk mental state’ and are ‘not always comfortable’ when facing a young person with a mental health problem. Nearly all (95%) expressed interest in attending specialised training. GPs identified treatment costs, scarce access to psychiatrists and limited patient engagement as the main obstacles to help young people. Conclusions: Effective treatment of a mental health problem relies on early identification. GPs are seeing young people on a regular basis but don’t feel well equipped for this task and are keen to up-skill, which needs to be addressed by targeted training.
- Subject
- youth mental health; general practitioners; at-risk mental state; early intervention; pathways to care
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1475415
- Identifier
- uon:49539
- Identifier
- ISSN:1039-8562
- Language
- eng
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