TY - JOUR
T1 - @ease peer-to-peer youth walk-in centres in The Netherlands
T2 - A protocol for evaluating longitudinal outcomes, follow-up results and cost-of-illness
AU - Boonstra, Anouk
AU - van Mastrigt, Ghislaine A. P. G.
AU - Evers, Silvia M. A. A.
AU - van Amelsvoort, Therese A. M. J.
AU - Leijdesdorff, Sophie M. J.
AU - @ease consortium
AU - van Amelsvoort, Thérèse A. M. J.
AU - Boonstra, Nynke
AU - Grootendorst-van Mil, Nina H.
AU - Klaassen, Rianne M. C.
AU - Leijdesdorff, Sophie M. J.
AU - Popma, Arne
AU - Veling, Wim
AU - de Winter, Remco F. P.
N1 - Funding Information: @ease has received funding from the municipalities of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Heerlen, Groningen, Rotterdam and Leiden and from the Dutch Health Insurers Innovation Fund (Innovatiefonds Zorgverzekeraars). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Early Intervention in Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Aim: Innovative youth mental health services around the globe vigorously work on increasing highly needed mental health care accessibility but their service users and care effectiveness have rarely been studied. The Dutch youth walk-in centres of @ease opened in 2018, with currently 11 locations at which free anonymous peer-to-peer counselling is offered to young people aged 12–25. The aim of this protocol is to outline the to-be-conducted research at @ease. Methods: Three studies are outlined: (1) an outcome evaluation of @ease visits using hierarchical mixed model analyses and change calculations, (2) a cost-of-illness study using calculations for costs of truancy and care usage among these help-seeking young people, with regression analyses for risk group identification, and (3) a follow-up evaluation at three, six and 12 months to assess long-term effects after ending @ease visits. Data provided by young people include demographics, parental mental illness, truancy, past treatment, psychological distress (CORE-10) and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L). Social and occupational functioning (SOFAS), suicidal ideation and need for referral are rated by the counsellors. Questionnaires are filled out at the end of every visit and at follow-up via e-mail or text, provided permission is given. Discussion: Research regarding the visitors and effectiveness of the @ease services is fully original. It offers unique insights into the mental wellbeing and cost-of-illness of young people who may otherwise remain unseen while suffering from a high disease burden. The upcoming studies shed light on this unseen group, inform policy and practice and direct future research.
AB - Aim: Innovative youth mental health services around the globe vigorously work on increasing highly needed mental health care accessibility but their service users and care effectiveness have rarely been studied. The Dutch youth walk-in centres of @ease opened in 2018, with currently 11 locations at which free anonymous peer-to-peer counselling is offered to young people aged 12–25. The aim of this protocol is to outline the to-be-conducted research at @ease. Methods: Three studies are outlined: (1) an outcome evaluation of @ease visits using hierarchical mixed model analyses and change calculations, (2) a cost-of-illness study using calculations for costs of truancy and care usage among these help-seeking young people, with regression analyses for risk group identification, and (3) a follow-up evaluation at three, six and 12 months to assess long-term effects after ending @ease visits. Data provided by young people include demographics, parental mental illness, truancy, past treatment, psychological distress (CORE-10) and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L). Social and occupational functioning (SOFAS), suicidal ideation and need for referral are rated by the counsellors. Questionnaires are filled out at the end of every visit and at follow-up via e-mail or text, provided permission is given. Discussion: Research regarding the visitors and effectiveness of the @ease services is fully original. It offers unique insights into the mental wellbeing and cost-of-illness of young people who may otherwise remain unseen while suffering from a high disease burden. The upcoming studies shed light on this unseen group, inform policy and practice and direct future research.
KW - cost of illness
KW - early intervention
KW - mental health services
KW - young people
KW - youth mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163083325&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13443
DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13443
M3 - Article
C2 - 37283500
SN - 1751-7885
VL - 17
SP - 929
EP - 938
JO - Early intervention in psychiatry
JF - Early intervention in psychiatry
IS - 9
ER -