Reviewing mental health provision for 16-25-year-olds in Liverpool
As identified by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Board’s Strategic Partnership, a priority for Liverpool is to review and strengthen the current 16-25 mental health services provision and access.
Merseyside Youth Association’s RAISE Mental Health Promotion Team has hosted a series of consultations with young people. The team also spoke to people working with young people, as well as parents, carers and foster carers.
Consultation aims
Young people’s views
Led by Rosie Jackson, Children & Young People’s Mental Health Promotion Worker, these consultations allowed young people to share their views on various issues related to their mental health and the support available. We explored young people’s mental health needs, prevention methods, the services they access, the gaps they experience in these services and their awareness of the themes and services that relate to them:
- What are the challenges, issues and needs they face in relation to their mental health?
- How do they feel about the support that’s available?
- How do they feel about how/when/where you can access this support?
- Is there specific support they would like to access that they can’t/don’t exist?
We aim to:
- Evaluate the current mental health pathway for those aged 16-25.
- Give young people a space to voice their thoughts and opinions on the current offer, such as exploring what services they are aware of and how accessible these are.
- Finally, develop an action plan for the offer going forward, keeping young people’s voices at the heart of this.
The young people will be assured they are here to influence change. By giving their voice due weight, the aim is to pave a new pathway that holds true to Liverpool’s youth voice.
Are you a young person aged 16-25?
Do you want to have your say about mental health in Liverpool?
We want to understand, from your perspective:
- What are young people’s mental health needs? Common feelings, emotional challenges and mental health symptoms.
- What support and advice do young people need in relation to their mental health and emotional wellbeing? What’s out there? How to access it? What’s working well? What needs to change?
These surveys will take less than five minutes to complete – your views are important to us.
This short survey explores the awareness of the provision available and how it’s accessed.
- If you have received support, we want to understand how you felt about your experience.
- If you know someone who has had mental health support, maybe a friend, colleague, or family member, we’d like to hear your views of their experiences.
This short survey explores the experiences young people have had with the services and the support they’ve received.
- If you have received support, we want to understand how you felt about the process, from referral throughout your journey and after leaving the service.
- If you know someone who has had mental health support, maybe a friend, colleague, or family member, we’d like to hear your views on their experiences.
About the young people’s consultations
The consultations will adopt the Lundy Model of participation with youth voice. This model credits successful youth participation to be built on four parts:
- space
- voice
- audience
- influence.
This model will be fostered into the consultations to offer a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for young people and encourage them to voice their views and thoughts. At these consultations, young people will have an audience of professionals from a range of mental health organisations and sectors that want to support their vision and help them create an effective mental health offer for this age group.