Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives?

3. Access and Engagement with Centres
Table 3.3 Types of relationship problems reported by headspace clients
Main problem reported Number Percentage
1. I'm having problems with family 2,660 65.2
2. I’m having problems with my boyfriend, girlfriend or partner 476 11.7
3. Other problems with relationships 389 9.5
4. I'm having problems with bullying 214 5.2
5. I'm having problems with friends 211 5.2
6. I’m concerned about my sexuality or gender issues 118 2.9
7. I’m having problems with cyber bullying 13 0.3
Total 4,081 100
Source: Authors calculations from hCSA data.
Primary presenting issue
The primary presenting issue is recorded by service providers into the following categories:
• Mental health and behaviour:
• Physical health
- Anxiety symptoms
- Depressive symptoms
- Suicidal thoughts/behaviour
• Vocational assistance
- Issues in engaging with education/training
- Assistance in engaging with employment.
This data is not a formal diagnosis of a mental disorder, but rather an assessment of the primary
issue at presentation. Formal diagnosis of a mental disorder by an appropriately qualified clinician is
available for only a small proportion of headspace clients (Rickwood et al., 2014), and consequently,
this data is not included in the evaluation.
Service providers’ assessment of young peoples’ primary presenting issues were largely consistent
with self-reported reasons for attending. The overwhelming majority of young people entered
headspace with mental health and behavioural problems (74%; Figure 3.9). The next largest
group presented with situational problems (such as conflict in the home or at school; 12%). A
small proportion of young people were assessed as having problems associated with sexual and
reproductive health (3%) or alcohol or drug use (3%) as their primary presenting issue. More than
half of the clients whose primary presenting issue was sexual and reproductive health were aged
between 16-19 years.
Problems related to physical health were identified as the primary presenting issue for only 167
clients. However, many more young people received physical health services through headspace. In
2013/14, 6,315 occasions of service were for physical health services. Although young people were
unlikely to come to headspace with a primary physical health problem, given the presence of GP
services within many centres and the multi-disciplinary nature of headspace and trust built up with
headspace centres, it is reasonable that young people sought and received physical health services
at headspace. These services may also help prevent or address comorbid health problems.
Six per cent of young people presented at headspace for ‘other’ issues 22 , including attention deficit
disorder, adjustment disorder, developmental disorder, communication disorder and other types of
disorders (Figure 3.9).
22
Categorisation within the headspace administrative dataset.
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
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