Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Towards Youth Mental Health System Reform: An Evaluation of Participatory Systems Modelling in the Australian Capital Territory

Grace Yeeun Lee
* ORCID logo ,
Ian Bernard Hickie
,
Yun Ju C Song
,
Sam Huntley
,
Nicholas Ho
,
Victoria Loblay
ORCID logo ,
Louise Freebairn
,
Adam Skinner
,
Paul Crosland
,
Elizabeth Moore
,
Natalie Johnson
,
Stephanie Lentern
,
Josephine Brogden
,
Erin Barry
,
Catherine Vacher
ORCID logo ,
Sebastian Rosenberg
ORCID logo ,
Paul Mayers
,
Olivia Iannelli
,
Shin Ho Park
,
Jo-An Occhipinti
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 26 June 2023 / Approved: 26 June 2023 / Online: 26 June 2023 (10:09:36 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Lee, G.Y.; Hickie, I.B.; Song, Y.J.C.; Huntley, S.; Ho, N.; Loblay, V.; Freebairn, L.; Skinner, A.; Crosland, P.; Moore, E.; Johnson, N.; Lentern, S.; Brogden, J.; Barry, E.; Vacher, C.; Rosenberg, S.; Mayers, P.; Iannelli, O.; Park, S.H.; Occhipinti, J.-A. Towards Youth Mental Health System Reform: An Evaluation of Participatory Systems Modelling in the Australian Capital Territory. Systems 2023, 11, 386. Lee, G.Y.; Hickie, I.B.; Song, Y.J.C.; Huntley, S.; Ho, N.; Loblay, V.; Freebairn, L.; Skinner, A.; Crosland, P.; Moore, E.; Johnson, N.; Lentern, S.; Brogden, J.; Barry, E.; Vacher, C.; Rosenberg, S.; Mayers, P.; Iannelli, O.; Park, S.H.; Occhipinti, J.-A. Towards Youth Mental Health System Reform: An Evaluation of Participatory Systems Modelling in the Australian Capital Territory. Systems 2023, 11, 386.

Abstract

Australia’s mental health system is failing young people. Calls for accountability, strategic long-term policy planning, and regional leadership have been identified as solutions to guide mental health reform. Developing system dynamics models using a participatory approach (participatory systems modelling, PSM) is recognised as a useful method that can support decision-making for strategic reform. This paper reports evaluation findings of a youth mental health PSM process conducted in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Baseline and follow-up mixed-methods evaluation data were collected in 2022 across diverse stakeholder groups to investigate the feasibility, value, impact, and sustainability of PSM. Though youth mental health system reform was viewed as desirable and a necessity across all stakeholder groups, shared perceptions of disabling powerless was observed regarding their ability to influence current decision-making processes to improve the youth mental health system. This suggests greater accountability is required to support systemic reform in youth mental health. PSM offers promise in improving transparency and accountability of decision-making for youth mental health as exemplified in the ACT. However, more support and time are required to facilitate transformational change. Future research should investigate empowerment strategies to complement the implementation of findings from dynamic models developed through PSM, as well as the effectiveness of regional youth mental health policy decision-making supported by systems modelling.

Keywords

youth mental health; health policy; monitoring and evaluation; participatory systems modelling; system dynamics modelling; lived experience participation; participatory action research

Subject

Public Health and Healthcare, Health Policy and Services

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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