Pilot study of client outcomes from exercise physiology in a youth mental health service.

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the utilisation and experience of an exercise physiology programme, known as Bod Squad at a youth mental health service. Individual sessions were offered in an outpatient setting, while both group and individual sessions occurred in an inpatient unit. This pilot study used a mixed methodology to collect data from young people who attended Bod Squad. A database of exercise physiology records for 47 young people were analysed for attendance and physiological indicators. In addition, 7 semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people to explore their experience of Bod Squad. Young people attended a total of 169 sessions during the programmes tenure, with an overall mean of 3.6 sessions. Pre-post measures for 10 young people (who had attended at least 4 sessions) showed modest average reductions for body mass index, waist circumference, chest circumference and resting heart rate. Five themes emerged from the interviews-(1) My reasons for attending, (2) The social aspect, (3) An individualized approach, (4) Outcomes from Bod Squad and (5) My experience of the service. All of these themes included positive experiences of Bod Squad, which young people perceived as relevant to their needs and helpful to their recovery. These findings are congruent with previous studies that have concluded that exercise physiology may be an effective, acceptable and valued intervention for addressing physical and metabolic health issues for young people.

Individual placement and support, supported education in young people with mental illness: an exploratory feasibility study.

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adapting individual placement and support (IPS) to education for young people presenting to a tertiary mental health service who wished to re-engage with or be supported in their education. METHODS: The study was an uncontrolled trial. Twenty young people with severe mental illness were recruited and worked with an educational specialist providing adapted IPS for education (IPSed). Demographic, educational and symptom measures were collected at baseline. Educational outcome was collected at the end of the 6-month intervention. Data presented are descriptive. RESULTS: Individual placement and support for education was found to be feasible with 95% of the participants successfully completing the intervention. Eighteen of the 19 who participated through to the conclusion of the intervention achieved positive educational outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: It is well established that education is the foundation of career, but many people with mental illness drop out of their education with the onset of illness in adolescence or early adulthood. There has been a dearth of interventions to reconnect people with mental illness to secondary education and training. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to adapt IPS to focus exclusively on education at the outset of illness. Further larger studies are needed to confirm these results and create an evidence base for implementation of IPSed in routine practice for the treatment of early stage mental illness.

Family peer support work in an early intervention youth mental health service.

This paper describes the evolution of a family peer support programme in an early intervention service in Melbourne, Australia. In response to policy directions from Federal and State governments calling for carer participation in public mental health services, and feedback from the families of young people at Orygen Youth Health, the 'Families Helping Families' project was developed. The positive acceptance by families of this innovative programme also warrants further exploration. The programme has overcome many organizational hurdles associated with specifically trained and employed family carers working alongside professional mental health clinicians. This article describes the change processes involved in implementing this programme and documents preliminary expressions of the benefits of family peer support. The contribution of lived experience in treatment and consumer care plans needs rigorous research and evaluation.

Group programmes in early intervention services.

AIM: Group interventions can be a developmentally appropriate treatment option for young people with mental illness; however, there is a paucity of research into these programmes. This study had three aims: (i) to document and compare both clinicians' and clients' reasons for referral to the Orygen Youth Health Recovery Group Program (RGP); (ii) to describe demographic characteristics of patients referred to the RGP; and (iii) to delineate and differentiate characteristics of clients who do and do not engage with the RGP's activities. METHODS: Referral and assessment data from 212 clients referred to the RGP between July 2001 and November 2003 were collated and analysed. RESULTS: Main reasons for referral to the programme were relationships followed by vocational/educational issues. Similarly, the most common goals identified by clients were around relationships, followed by time use and vocational issues. Clients referred to the RGP but who did not attend were more likely to have a psychotic disorder, to be older, unemployed and have difficulties with time management and substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Social functioning and vocation are important considerations in facilitating young people's recovery from mental illness. Such issues can be addressed within the context of psychosocial recovery group programmes. Further research is needed not only to address problems regarding client engagement but also to evaluate outcomes from participation in such programmes.