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

5. Service Delivery Model
and to improve the mental health literacy 25 of young people. This latter goal is significant as young
people are more likely to seek help if they recognise signs that they may have a problem.
Interviewed headspace staff and service providers held largely positive views about the extent to
which headspace’s presence and activities had contributed to improved community awareness of
their centre as well as the importance of help-seeking for mental health and related problems. The
two strategies most valued for raising awareness of headspace and improving mental health literacy
were: community engagement activities and the co-location of headspace with other services.
During fieldwork, staff gave examples of many community engagement activities such as visits to
local schools by headspace staff, the promotion of free leisure activities such as cooking classes
at headspace drop-in centres, and drama and music events. Other events and activities noted
as raising the profile of headspace in the local community and helping to engage young people
included having a presence during Youth week and NAIDOC week. The appointment of a community
engagement officer to all centres was seen as essential in facilitating this important work. Staff
at one of the fieldwork sites spoke of the challenges of trying to visit all the schools in their area.
To assist in the dissemination of information, this headspace centre planned to host information
evenings for school counsellors, nurses and principals. They also planned to send headspace
promotional materials to the schools, such as water bottles and wristbands for the school counsellors
to distribute.
In the survey of headspace Centre Managers (n=29), all except two centres reported that they were
co-located with other services. headspace centres were most frequently co-located with vocational,
drug and alcohol and youth services. The co-location of headspace with other youth services was
identified as a key factor contributing to young people’s awareness of headspace, providing a ‘soft
entry’ point for young people interested in finding out about headspace.
Evaluation data indicates that community awareness of headspace is stronger among some
stakeholder groups. More than two-thirds of headspace clients who visited a centre in the 2013/14
financial year claimed at their first visit that they had heard about headspace from someone they
knew. About 32% of clients had heard about headspace from family members or friends, and another
33% of headspace clients gained awareness from health workers such as doctors and school
counsellors. Awareness of headspace is, however, relatively low among general practitioners (see
section 5.10).
Finally, in spite of the progress attributed to headspace for raising awareness of young people’s
mental health, it was felt by some that there was still a long way to go in terms of lessening the
stigma attached to mental illness:
So someone telling you they’re embarrassed to talk about their mental health means that it’s
still not on the level where if you’re sick you go to the GP to get antibiotics. Mental health is
still not at that level. (Youth Engagement Officer)
It was noted by staff that there is still stigma in using mental health services and many young people
revealed that they felt this way in interviews.
Provide seamless services that are responsive to the individual needs of young people
Referrals to and from headspace centres as well as centre connections to other services within the
broader service system are examined in detail in sections 5.8 and 5.9 below, and so these findings
are not repeated here. In summary, it is clear that headspace centres provide a range of services
that frequently meet the varied needs of young people. To this end, only a small proportion of young
people receive formal referrals to other services in the system. This ensures that young people
frequently receive a variety of services in a single location, thereby reducing the likelihood that they
will disengage from the service.
Evaluation data does indicate, however, that workforce issues present a continuing challenge to
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Mental health literacy is defined as the ‘knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition,
management or prevention’ (Jorm, 2000). This includes the ability to recognise specific disorders or symptoms;
knowledge about how to seek mental health information or professional help; and an attitude that promotes recognition
and help seeking.
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
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