The $8.5m service offers a range of multidisciplinary specialist services for young people with acute or complex mental health conditions.
A new $8.5 million program offering a hospital in the home-based model of mental health care for young people aged 15-24 years is up and running in Tasmania’s northwest.
Commencing operations in Devonport last month, the Youth Mental Health Hospital in the Home North West program offers four mental health beds seven days a week for individuals experiencing acute or complex mental health concerns, as part of the state government’s efforts to improve services for children and young people statewide.
In addition to specialist psychiatric and pharmaceutical care, patients admitted to the service are given access to a range of mental health professionals including allied health practitioners, nurses, nurse practitioners, youth workers and mental health peer workers.
Each patient could receive a minimum of two visits a day from a clinician up to 21 days after their admission to the program, with plans underway to scale up to 12 beds once more patients are recruited, according to a statement from Tasmanian health minister Guy Barnett.
“[The] program will increase access to mental health services for young people in the northwest, by providing specialist care and support within the young person’s place of residence,” Minister Barnett said.
“Under the pilot, mental health clinicians aim to visit each young person admitted to the service at least twice a day for up to 21 days, as part of a comprehensive and intensive home-based model of care.
“This $8.5 million pilot comes in addition to our wider $45.2 million program of child and adolescent mental health services reform, which is working to provide quality mental health treatment and care for young people and their families and carers across the state.”
