TY - JOUR
T1 - Who is @ease? Visitors’ characteristics and working method of professionally supported peer-to-peer youth walk-in centres, anonymous and free of charge
AU - Leijdesdorff, Sophie M. J.
AU - Rosema, Stefanie
AU - Klaassen, Rianne M. C.
AU - Popma, Arne
AU - van Amelsvoort, Therese
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank the participants, young-adult peers and staff of @ease, and direct stakeholders and partners, especially those who free up time within their organization or support @ease financially. Special thanks go to Hana Ibrahim, Jorn Hartgens and Nancy Nicolson for their helpful feedback. [Correction added on 31 March 2022, after first online publication: Special thanks to Hana Ibrahim, Jorn Hartgens, and Nancy Nicolson have been added to the Acknowledgements.] Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Early Intervention in Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Aim: Although mental disorders often emerge early in life, only a minority of young people receive timely and appropriate mental health care. A worldwide youth mental health movement aims to prevent development and persistence of psychiatric disorders. As part of this movement, the first four @ease centres were opened in the Netherlands. @ease is a youth driven, professionally supported initiative, providing peer-to-peer counselling, anonymous and free of charge, for people aged 12–25. Methods: Data consist of a detailed description of the working method of @ease, combined with characteristics of all young people accessing the services between its inception (January 2018) and July 2020. Results: Young-adult peers, including experts by experience, served as counsellors after training in listening, motivational interviewing and solution-focused strategies. They were supervised by a diverse group of healthcare professionals. A total of 291 visitors, aged 21 on average, were satisfied to very satisfied with @ease's services. Psychosocial distress, social functioning and quality of life measures at first visit showed moderate to severe levels of impairment, and almost half of all visitors reported skipping classes. One third reported parental mental illness, 28% suicidal ideations, and 11% had made specific plans. Less than a third of visitors had received mental health care in the 3 months prior to their visit. Conclusion: This study showed the need for and feasibility of a youth driven, professionally supported organization offering peer-to-peer counselling in the Netherlands. Its flexible and individualized working method enables @ease to normalize problems when possible and intervene when necessary.
AB - Aim: Although mental disorders often emerge early in life, only a minority of young people receive timely and appropriate mental health care. A worldwide youth mental health movement aims to prevent development and persistence of psychiatric disorders. As part of this movement, the first four @ease centres were opened in the Netherlands. @ease is a youth driven, professionally supported initiative, providing peer-to-peer counselling, anonymous and free of charge, for people aged 12–25. Methods: Data consist of a detailed description of the working method of @ease, combined with characteristics of all young people accessing the services between its inception (January 2018) and July 2020. Results: Young-adult peers, including experts by experience, served as counsellors after training in listening, motivational interviewing and solution-focused strategies. They were supervised by a diverse group of healthcare professionals. A total of 291 visitors, aged 21 on average, were satisfied to very satisfied with @ease's services. Psychosocial distress, social functioning and quality of life measures at first visit showed moderate to severe levels of impairment, and almost half of all visitors reported skipping classes. One third reported parental mental illness, 28% suicidal ideations, and 11% had made specific plans. Less than a third of visitors had received mental health care in the 3 months prior to their visit. Conclusion: This study showed the need for and feasibility of a youth driven, professionally supported organization offering peer-to-peer counselling in the Netherlands. Its flexible and individualized working method enables @ease to normalize problems when possible and intervene when necessary.
KW - adolescence
KW - innovation
KW - peer-to-peer
KW - service reform
KW - youth mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127305523&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13294
DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13294
M3 - Article
C2 - 35343056
SN - 1751-7885
VL - 16
SP - 1391
EP - 1397
JO - Early Intervention in Psychiatry
JF - Early Intervention in Psychiatry
IS - 12
ER -