Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!86 | Appendix 1Appendix 1: Wish list for servicesYouth Crisis 1 consisted of a consultation with youngpeople in four project sites to find out what kinds ofcrisis services they wanted. The result was a ‘wish list’drawn up from the key needs they identified.• Telephone helplines, available at night, in theevenings and at weekends, specifically foryoung people, and staffed by skilled telephonecounsellors, who know what local services areavailable for young people.• Places to go for young people that are informal; areopen in the evenings; work on a drop-in rather thanappointment basis; and are staffed by skilled youthworkers with knowledge of mental health issues.• Services targeted specifically at 16-25 year olds, whichare ‘young-people-friendly’ in design and approach.• Alternative treatments such as reflexology andacupuncture instead of prescription drugs. Theseare available to many adults experiencing mentaldistress but difficult to access for young people.• Fast-track access to treatment, support and care foryoung people, to enable them to resolve seriousdifficulties before they become embedded.• Choice of workers so that young people can builda rapport with someone who meets theirindividual needs.• Young person input into staff training – youngpeople felt that mental health workers such aspsychiatrists, community psychiatric nurses, GPs,social workers, police officers, and accident andemergency workers would provide more sensitiveservice if they received such training.• Greater sensitivity to young people in crisis,particularly at A&E departments (e.g. after self-harmor suicide attempt), providing privacy, support andreferral to relevant specialist community services.• Peer support in schools and youth work settings.More training for teachers in mental health issueswould raise awareness of how to support themental health of vulnerable young people.• Services for people at risk of crisis. Crisis servicesshould work with young people who feel they areat risk of falling into crisis, helping them to developstrategies and access resources to avoid crisis.• Naming ‘crisis services’ with care; the term ‘crisis’may have the effect of preventing some receivinghelp, as either the professionals or the youngpeople themselves may regard it as excludingyoung people who are on a pathway to, but notactually in, crisis.