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

3. Access and Engagement with Centres
stigmatisation and having their friends find out was a strong disincentive to attending a centre, while
for others, their young person’s reluctance to talk to someone about their problems was a disincentive.
She was, like, ‘I don’t want to go there. I’m not dumb. I’m not this’. And I used to say, ‘It’s going
to help you’.
Just general anxiety of going to a new place, and telling someone he didn’t know his problems.
Not being sure what to expect.
My daughter wouldn’t get out of the car.
The majority of participants noted, however, that this reluctance dissipated quickly after the young
person had visited the centre and spoken to staff members:
My daughter was resistant at the beginning but once we got here, no she was fine. It’s just a
matter of put it on the calendar; remember you’ve got that appointment, yes, yes. Okay.
They feel comfortable once they’re here.
The Parents and Carers Study found that parents who responded to the survey mostly encouraged
their young person to attend headspace because they felt their young person needed professional
assistance and/or because they feared for their safety:
I thought it would be good for my child/young person to talk to a qualified individual about their
problems (n=67).
I thought that my child/young person was not going to get better by themselves and needed
help (n=55).
I was concerned about the safety of my child/young person (n=40).
I was tired of dealing with my child/young person’s behaviour (n=14).
Parents and carers played an ongoing, active role to ensure that their young person continued
to attend headspace. These actions were practical (e.g. transportation / funding for transport,
appointment reminders and connections to other services) and emotional (e.g. listening, encouraging,
discussing; see Table 3.6).
Table 3.6 Actions taken by parents/carers to encourage their young person to attend headspace
Action undertaken by parents/carers
N
I drove them to the headspace centre 68
I listened to what they wanted to share from their appointments with headspace staff 63
I reminded them of appointments with staff at headspace centres 56
I encouraged them to carry out whatever lifestyle or education-related suggestions the headspace staff made
53
(such as joining a gym or enrolling in a course)
I discussed ways that the family could help them to feel better (such as establishing health family routines like
46
regular walking)
I read information about their mental health, emotional and/or behavioural concerns 39
I contacted other services that were recommended to the young person by headspace staff 15
I gave them money for transport costs to travel to the headspace centre 8
Source: The Parents and Carers Survey
Some parents, however, indicated that they wanted to support their young person in their treatment
but were excluded from doing so:
I was never told of appointments, always kept in the dark, never received any input from staff
here.
Sadly, my son does not talk to me, so no conversation had.
My daughter won’t talk to us about headspace.
These findings indicate that the majority of the parents and carers who participated in the surveys and
the focus groups felt that headspace is accessible and appropriate for their young people. However,
the level of knowledge about headspace among parents was relatively low, and a large proportion
had not heard of headspace before being referred by another health professional or other source.
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
37