TECHNOLOGY and respected mental health “champions” should be used to break down the barrier of stigma that is preventing young people from accessing support services, a new report has found.
The headspace Swan Hill Regional Engagement Project, initiated in May 2017, released its final report last October, and it has enabled headspace Swan Hill to develop its understanding of the barriers experienced by young people who are rurally isolated from youth mental health services.
The overwhelming response from more than 90 interviews conducted was about stigma, with most people making at least some reference to stigma as the prominent barrier for young people accessing support.
“The interview findings are supported by research on perceived barriers to mental health help-seeking in young people,” the report found.
“Stigma and embarrassment is the most prominent barrier to help-seeking for mental health problems.”
Conversations about ways to break down stigma included the importance of education and confidentiality, community awareness and a presence in schools, youth engagement, and the notion of having “headspace champions” in regional communities.
headspace Swan Hill manager Kirsty Jacobs said stigma was a “complex issue to address without a clear solution”.
“Society seems to be getting better at talking about mental health and acknowledging we all experience challenges from time to time,” Ms Jacobs told The Guardian.
“I think a lot of people still internalise stigma and are fearful of what others may think or say if they access supports, particularly in small communities.
“Cultural stereotypes also have a part to play here. There are definitely key individuals across the Swan Hill region that are advocates for having the conversation and speaking about mental health.”
Ms Jacobs said the engagement project had been a “foundational” piece of work in understanding the needs within the Swan Hill region, which covers 1680 square kilometres and establishing headspace Swan Hill as a regional resource.
“The final report captures valuable insights and learning from consultation with 91 individuals from various communities,” she said.
“The project has informed and shaped the way we collaborate with regional communities and schools to provide early intervention support to young people.”
Asked whether government funding kept up with the demand and service provisions, Ms Jacobs said the Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health revealed the need for greater resources to be put into mental health.
“The most important consideration with funding is that there is an understanding of the needs of communities,” she said.
“Work, like the regional engagement project, gave us real insight into the stories from the community and allowed us to implement meaningful resource into our regional space.”
The report found utilising technology for accessing mental health support was also a consistent theme.
“The ease of access, wide reach, and extraordinary versatility of the rapidly expanding range of technology-enabled interventions make them vital links in the help-seeking process,” it found.
“Young people like it better and this new generation think differently.
“In the future, young people will not tolerate the way static place-based services work now.”
A key outcome was the introduction of the telehealth service option for young people to overcome the barrier of distance.
The implementation of telehealth services also meant that headspace Swan Hill could service a larger geographical area, creating greater access to young people.
“Furthermore, the telehealth service at headspace Swan Hill allows for increased access to early intervention youth mental health services,” the report said.
“This may reduce the presentations of mental illness later in life for young people by reducing the time that early symptoms endure and halting their progression to more serious mental health concerns.”
Ms Jacobs said headspace was unsure how telehealth (phone and video sessions) would be received by young people.
“It was surprising to find that young people were quite happy, and sometimes preferred, to engage via telehealth and that it was more of a barrier for service providers than it was for young people,” she said.
“Telehealth is now an integrated part of our service delivery model.
“It provides young people with flexibility with engagement and allows them to continue receiving support when they are unable to make it in to the centre.
“It is particularly helpful for young people live outside of Swan Hill, removing barriers created by distance/transport.
“It was particularly helpful in transition to online and phone appointments when COVID restrictions were first introduced, as we had the platform set up and our staff already trained in this model.”
Ms Jacobs said through the project, the organisation could see the benefit of delivering telehealth in partnership with regional schools.
“The initial set-up does require some financial resource in terms of staffing hours and setting up an appropriate space at the school, however the ongoing benefit to young people and community members far outweighs the financial resource,” she said.
“We have been able to minimise the financial resource required by taking a team approach where one staff member is allocated to each participating school, instead of having one dedicated resource.
“We have also been fortunate enough to receive additional funding which has allowed us to implement telehealth in regional schools with minimal financial barrier.”
To find out more about headspace Swan Hill, visit headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/swan-hill/
or submit an education/community event request to arrange for headspace staff to attend and speak about the service.
