Why this guide is needed

Rates of mental ill-health among young people are concerning;¹ it is now understood that adolescence and early adulthood is the peak age of onset for mental ill-health and the period when there is a need for initial care². Poor mental health is closely related to many other health and social concerns for young people, including educational achievements, employment, relationships and substance use³.

Promoting good mental health and preventing mental health problems in young people is therefore an issue of considerable significance for society in the UK, both in terms of public health and social wellbeing. Research indicates that young people aged 16–25 experience a range of barriers to mental health support. Transitions between child and adult services tend to be poorly coordinated and there is a lack of age appropriate mental health services to support this particular group⁴.

The Department of Health (DH) admits that the problem of transition has not been resolved and that many young people ‘fall off the cliff edge’ at age 18⁵. Adult mental health services are often not designed or delivered in ways that young people wish to engage with, and the fear of being stigmatised for having a mental health problem is a major factor in young people’s decisions  not to access help from mainstream, traditional services⁶.

To address these barriers and better support the mental health of young people, commissioners will be required to think beyond traditional models of care and look towards innovative, and even radical, service models and approaches – approaches which view young people aged 16–25  as having distinct needs, and which place mental health support within the wider context of their lives, including their physical health, relationships, education and employment.  This is certainly a challenging agenda, but as the Right Here experience has shown, it is not necessarily an insurmountable one.