WSLHD Youth Health Annual Report

Counselling

Youth Health provides counselling to young people connected to the WSLHD catchment area aged 12 – 20 years. The primary target group for service provision is young people who are marginalised, disadvantaged or at risk, with a particular focus on young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Young people who are marginalised tend to have poor supports, are most often isolated and generally have histories of neglect and/or trauma that increase the risk of mental health issues and suicide. Clients may present to counselling to address a range of issues including but not limited to: problems with mood, substance use, self-harm, suicidal ideation, behavioural problems, violence, emotional regulation, and family relationship problems. active clients (238 at WAAT and 123 at HSYHS). Of these active clients, 241 were new referrals in 2021. The capacity of the team was challenged across the year, with redeployment of half of the counselling team to the COVID Support Hub for several months. To meet physical distancing requirements and public health orders across COVID-19, there was a necessary reduction in face-to-face service provision. This saw the Counselling team pivot to provide alternative service delivery models including telehealth. Across 2021, 22% of occasions of services were provided through phone or audio-visual modalities. For many vulnerable clients however, telehealth was not an effective service delivery model due to access or environmental limitations. In such cases, limited face-to-face services were provided or care was adjusted to a maintenance focus until face-to-face sessions could return. In 2021, the Counselling team provided occasions of service (1,598 at WAAT and 1,008 at HSYHS) to

Emergency Department Care Navigation

The Emergency Department (ED) Care Navigation project aims to enhance health care navigation for marginalised young people to reduce re-presentations to emergency departments. The ED care navigator works with young people to improve their access to primary and community health care, reducing their reliance upon ED. This position has a focus on young people without a mental health diagnosis or who do not meet mental health service criteria to enhance access for this cohort to primary and Community Health.

In 2021, the ED Care Navigator provided

occasions of service to

active clients across WSLHD’s

Emergency Departments. Throughout 2021, the ED Care Navigator was unable to attend EDs due to the pandemic and was required to implement alternative methods of identifying and supporting patients. Whilst ED staff still notified the care Navigator of some presentations, much of this was achieved through patient screening via FirstNet and Powerchart records. Additionally, the ED Care Navigator was redeployed for a significant time to Testing and Vaccination clinics and supported Fit Testing and PPE training within ICH.