Care-experienced young people's views on what they want from mental health services

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2024 Feb 24:13591045241233986. doi: 10.1177/13591045241233986. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

This study explores what care-experienced young people want from mental health services. Six care-experienced young people were interviewed, and an interpretative phenomenological analysis applied. Three key themes emerged demonstrating that the way support is delivered, the people who deliver it, and the environment of mental health services are all important to care-experienced young people. Along with these findings, this study demonstrates that engaging vulnerable young people in research and service design is beneficial.

Keywords: Young people; care experience; interpretative phenomenological analysis; mental health services; young people’s views.

Plain language summary

This study explores what care-experienced young people want from mental health services. Six care-experienced young people were interviewed. Themes that emerged from interviews showed that the type of support that was delivered, the people who deliver the support, and the environment in which the support is delivered were all important to young people. This study shows that engaging young people in research and service design is beneficial.