JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mental health (MH) issues are the leading cause of mortality for young people, highlighting the importance of timely, high-quality, and affordable care. However, recent trends show a deceleration in the growth of youth mental health (YMH) services capacity in Australia. Meanwhile, digital interventions hold significant potential to sustain and enhance youth mental health outcomes.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of digital interventions and varying service capacity growth trajectories on YMH outcomes using systems modelling, offering insights into strategic resource allocation for sustained improvements.

Methods:

Participatory System Dynamics (SD) modelling was used to investigate YMH outcomes, with simulation results projected for 2025-2035. The study focused on individuals aged 15-24 years from a culturally diverse, rapidly expanding urban population, using the WesternSydney PrimaryHealthNetwork(WSPHN) catchment area as the case study.

Results:

Doubling recent growth rates for specialised MH services, headspace, and referrals to online services, together, could significantly enhance YMH outcomes. Compared to baseline, this strategic investment approach is projected to reduce cumulative years of being in state of moderate to very high psychological distress with disorders, cumulative MH-related emergency department(ED) presentations, and cumulative self-harm hospitalisations, by 14%, 6.4%, and 4.1%,respectively, from 2025 to 2035. Combining digital interventions alongside doubling growth in specialised services yields comparable reductions of 15%, 5.1%, and 4.4% in these indicators.

Conclusions:

This study emphasises digital technologies as an effective interim and long-term solution to mitigate the slow and uncertain growth in the specialised MH workforce. However, achieving sustained long-term improvements necessitates concurrent investment in expanding the specialised MH workforce.