Designing youth mental health services for the 21st century: examples from Australia, Ireland and the UK.

Despite the evidence showing that young people aged 12-25 years have the highest incidence and prevalence of mental illness across the lifespan, and bear a disproportionate share of the burden of disease associated with mental disorder, their access to mental health services is the poorest of all age groups. A major factor contributing to this poor access is the current design of our mental healthcare system, which is manifestly inadequate for the unique developmental and cultural needs of our young people. If we are to reduce the impact of mental disorder on this most vulnerable population group, transformational change and service redesign is necessary.

Transforming youth mental health services and supports in Ireland.

Background: Young people in the Republic of Ireland do not have access to appropriate mental health services and supports, necessitating transformational change in delivery systems.

Aims: Describe ongoing development and change efforts facilitated by Headstrong--The National Centre for Youth Mental Health.

Methods: Discusses findings from a national needs assessment, core strategies within the change initiative, progress in system-building, and preliminary descriptive and outcome data.

Jigsaw: engaging communities in the development and implementation of youth mental health services and supports in the Republic of Ireland.

Background: Irish young people exhibit high levels of psychological distress, but community-based services and supports are often unavailable or inaccessible.

Aim: To describe efforts to engage communities in systematic and data-based processes of planning, programme design, implementation, and evaluation.

Method: Details system-building initiatives in five communities (four counties and a distressed urban site) that will serve as a springboard for full national deployment.

Community concepts.

Since the publication of "Sustainable Communities--building for the future", Government attention has focused largely on high-density affordable housing in the four "growth areas": Thames Gateway; Ashford; Milton Keynes--South Midlands, and London--Stansted--Cambridge. In this article, Thomas Yeung and Tony Bates suggest that a greater and more sustainable impact would be achieved if architects, planners, and developers considered the potential for community-based water and waste management and on-site energy generation and distribution right from the start of the project. In particular, they consider that the communal nature of hospitals, universities, and public/community housing provides a great opportunity for on-site renewable CHP and/or distributed heating, which could combine global environmental benefits with improved local amenities.