It has long been acknowledged across the UK
that too many young people with mental health or neurodevelopmental
disorders encounter difficulties when attempting to make the
transition from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
to adult services.
However, less commonly recognised is the fact
that young people with neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g.
autism-spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD)), emotional/neurotic disorders and emerging personality
disorder are those who struggle the most, either because of
difficulties in the process of moving from one service to another
or because they find that no suitable service exists for them once
they reach adulthood. It is with these young people that this paper
is concerned.
This report pulls together research data which
starkly demonstrate that such conditions with continuity into adult
life have as great an impact, or greater, on quality of life, than
physical health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, back
problems, Parkinson’s disease or rheumatic disease.
The purpose of drawing these findings together
is to impress upon commissioners, clinicians and service providers
(from all sectors) the high level of disease burden experienced by
young people in these three groups and to stress the need for
services to be developed to help them.
It is aimed at those who commission and
provide services and it is hoped that, having read this paper, they
will be galvanised into designing, or re-designing, services and
pathways.
Contents
Introduction
- Background
- Struggling to get help
- Measuring quality of life
- Evidenced-based treatments and
interventions
- Commissioning guidance and good practice
- Conclusions