Meeting the needs of young adults within models of mental health care
This report describes new models of care that provide support, care and treatment for young adults.
Commissioned and funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement, this report was prepared in 2019. Previously available only from the Future NHS Collaboration platform, from 2022 we were pleased to provide access to the report (below).
The report outlines the challenges, successes and lessons learned about new models of support, care and treatment for young people aged 18 to 25 years, and derives a set of principles and considerations to inform their development.
Services are more successful when their development has been:
- incremental
- co-produced with young people and professionals
- rooted in the communities they serve
- implemented jointly across different types of providers.
Difficulties have arisen where change has been less evolutionary, and specifically where this has led to an overwhelming demand on new services.
The report's recommendations were informed by a review of relevant literature (see Appendix 1 in the report) including epidemiological studies, and by surveying a sample of emerging services and initiatives.
There are three key cohorts within the 18-to-25 age group:
- Young people who transition from children and young people’s mental health services and are accepted by adult mental health services
- People who do not meet the criteria for adult mental health services but have continuing needs and require care
- People presenting for the first time
This report also considers the needs of those who may have comorbid drug and alcohol problems or neurodevelopmental disorders (although it does not directly address the provision of dedicated services).