WSLHD Youth Health Annual Report

Community Access Team

Groupwork

The Community Access Team (CAT) takes a multifaceted approach to working with clients and the community in western Sydney, providing services across health care coordination (HCC), health education and health promotion. CAT provides health care coordination through case management to clients aged 12-24years. After a comprehensive Youth Health assessment, each client receives an individualised client led case plan focusing on the social determinants of health including accommodation, financial security, education, food security, advocacy, and any related health needs. Clients accessing CAT support often have and/or continue to experience a level of trauma that impacts health seeking behaviour. As a team, Community Access can assertively support clients in reaching their full potential working within the principles of social justice – equity, access, participation, and rights. In 2021, much of the HCC provided by CAT was in response to the pandemic. There was a significant amount of work undertaken in supporting vulnerable young people who were required to isolate. This included supporting access to safe housing in which to isolate and ensuring provision of sustainable food and basic needs supplies. CAT staff worked with local organisations to source food hampers and essential household items and toiletries as well as clothes and female ‘dignity packs.’ CAT also supported several other local services & teams within Priority Populations to access food hampers and basic needs hampers for their clients. CAT worked closely with the Youth Health Nursing Team and the ICH Covid Vaccination Outreach Team to enhance community partnerships and establish outreach vaccination clinics targeting vulnerable communities across the LHD. Outreach clinics were established in identified areas where clients & community members had limited access to transport and other mainstream services. In 2021, CAT provided occasions of service (358 at WAAT and 559 at HSYHS) to active clients (55 at WAAT and 48 at HSYHS).

As part of early intervention work undertaken by Youth Health, the service delivers a variety of health education groups with the purpose of delivering a harm minimisation message. These groups focus on key health areas such as mental health, sexual health, alcohol and other drugs as well as wellbeing groups such as RAGE. Groups are targeted at young people who are potentially disengaged from generic services and supports and may miss out on important health messages/ information. The provision of group work provides a supportive environment for young people who can share similar experiences and enables learning through an informal education approach. CAT saw a rise in demand for groupwork in 2021, as young people sought opportunities for social engagement after exiting lockdown in 2020. Due to ongoing lockdowns and public health orders around COVID in 2021, Youth Health attempted several on-line groups and some live streaming of programs with varied success. Youth Health delivered Health Education groups in 2021 for vulnerable and/or at-risk young people within WSLHD in a range of settings including NGOs, Youth Centres, Behavioural Schools and alternative education settings. As an extension to our Health Education groups for young people, CAT facilitated an education group for parents to Help Understand Teen Health Issues. The program helps parents learn how to talk to their adolescent children about current health issues. In partnership with the Aboriginal Health Team, the Community Access Team facilitated the Burudi Bada program which focuses on healthy eating, art, and gardening skills to increase capacity and health outcomes. Team members from across Youth Health also facilitate the Essential Youth Healthcare Skills Training which is part of the Youth Health Training Initiative. EYHS aims to develop the skills of health professionals to engage, assess and respond to the health needs and risks of young people, and to reduce barriers to young people accessing health services. Due to Covid restrictions, only one of four planned workshops were completed in 2021.