round 75% of people in many low–income countries lack access to care for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders. While the shortage of trained professionals plays a key role in the limited access to care, professionals work in challenging conditions that prevent them from optimizing their service delivery—including the frequent segregation of mental health from physical healthcare, stigmatization, and pressure to compete with traditional methods. Although this is especially an issue in low–income countries, mental health service providers need to look beyond the clinical model for youth on a global scale, which includes expanding training for mental health professionals to incorporate youth–friendly, empathetic approaches that draw from their lived experience.
It is important to ensure that young people, even in conservative societies, feel respected and are able to build a relationship of trust with the professional. However, there is a dearth of training opportunities for mental health professionals—psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and other cadres—to meet the needs and expectations of young people, as well as to stay abreast of the current trends and technology influencing youth mental health. The capacity building of professionals has been identified as a priority for addressing implementation barriers in global mental health. The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) has driven programs to “demonstrate the practice of psychiatry within a framework of community care and multi–sector collaboration across low–, medium–, and high–income settings.” Several other organizations also offer context–appropriate training.
Therefore, training for mental health professionals needs to be expanded by considering perspectives from different stakeholders beyond psychiatrists and psychologists alone, including those that young people regularly interact with (school administrators, school counselors, parents, etc.). This requires fostering a transdisciplinary approach that facilitates the participation of actors from multiple relevant sectors to work on complex youth mental health issues. In–person training sessions that bring together mental health professionals across cadres, along with young people and other relevant stakeholders, offer a unique opportunity for knowledge sharing from lived experience and advancement in the understanding of youth mental health. This can open up new avenues to offer services in the spaces that young people inhabit.
To address the increasing need to make mental health services more youth–friendly, services have to be tailored to young people through flexibility in timings, platforms (digital in addition to physical), settings, and costs. For example, youth appreciate support from mental health professionals whom they can connect with and who see them as equals. There is also a need to focus on promotion and prevention at an early age, which can address the global disease burden, i.e. the economic, social, human, and other impacts attributed to mental disorders. This makes a strong case for young people to be engaged in the design of programs and services to ensure that their perspectives are incorporated well. These co–design exercises need to capture the lived realities of youth as well as their socio–cultural and economic context—along with the communities they are situated in—to cater appropriately to their wide variety of needs.
Further, employing participatory approaches as opposed to didactic methods can strengthen training delivery. The use of experiential learning methods, particularly role play and open discussions, has been well–received by professionals. This can help bridge the gap between the young person and the professional and provide exposure to the needs and expectations of the former to strengthen activities geared toward the promotion and prevention of mental health issues.
Mental health professionals have been responding positively to the identified needs for these shifts and expressing commitment to creating safe spaces for young people. There is increasing awareness of the roles of the community, peers, institutions, government, and policymakers in making services youth–friendly. Leveraging opportunities for collaboration with associations of mental health professionals offers a pathway to scale up such training. With young people advocating more than ever for their mental health rights and needs, the time is right to advance transdisciplinary approaches towards securing their wellbeing. This calls for mental health professionals to be equipped in the best possible way as allies designing with youth, for youth.
a global affairs media network
Mental health services and providers for youth, with youth
July 19, 2024
Mental health providers need to look beyond the clinical model for youth on a global scale, which includes expanding training for mental health professionals to incorporate youth–friendly, empathetic approaches that draw from their lived experience, write Jaya Srinivasan and Fredric Azariah.
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round 75% of people in many low–income countries lack access to care for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders. While the shortage of trained professionals plays a key role in the limited access to care, professionals work in challenging conditions that prevent them from optimizing their service delivery—including the frequent segregation of mental health from physical healthcare, stigmatization, and pressure to compete with traditional methods. Although this is especially an issue in low–income countries, mental health service providers need to look beyond the clinical model for youth on a global scale, which includes expanding training for mental health professionals to incorporate youth–friendly, empathetic approaches that draw from their lived experience.
It is important to ensure that young people, even in conservative societies, feel respected and are able to build a relationship of trust with the professional. However, there is a dearth of training opportunities for mental health professionals—psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and other cadres—to meet the needs and expectations of young people, as well as to stay abreast of the current trends and technology influencing youth mental health. The capacity building of professionals has been identified as a priority for addressing implementation barriers in global mental health. The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) has driven programs to “demonstrate the practice of psychiatry within a framework of community care and multi–sector collaboration across low–, medium–, and high–income settings.” Several other organizations also offer context–appropriate training.
Therefore, training for mental health professionals needs to be expanded by considering perspectives from different stakeholders beyond psychiatrists and psychologists alone, including those that young people regularly interact with (school administrators, school counselors, parents, etc.). This requires fostering a transdisciplinary approach that facilitates the participation of actors from multiple relevant sectors to work on complex youth mental health issues. In–person training sessions that bring together mental health professionals across cadres, along with young people and other relevant stakeholders, offer a unique opportunity for knowledge sharing from lived experience and advancement in the understanding of youth mental health. This can open up new avenues to offer services in the spaces that young people inhabit.
To address the increasing need to make mental health services more youth–friendly, services have to be tailored to young people through flexibility in timings, platforms (digital in addition to physical), settings, and costs. For example, youth appreciate support from mental health professionals whom they can connect with and who see them as equals. There is also a need to focus on promotion and prevention at an early age, which can address the global disease burden, i.e. the economic, social, human, and other impacts attributed to mental disorders. This makes a strong case for young people to be engaged in the design of programs and services to ensure that their perspectives are incorporated well. These co–design exercises need to capture the lived realities of youth as well as their socio–cultural and economic context—along with the communities they are situated in—to cater appropriately to their wide variety of needs.
Further, employing participatory approaches as opposed to didactic methods can strengthen training delivery. The use of experiential learning methods, particularly role play and open discussions, has been well–received by professionals. This can help bridge the gap between the young person and the professional and provide exposure to the needs and expectations of the former to strengthen activities geared toward the promotion and prevention of mental health issues.
Mental health professionals have been responding positively to the identified needs for these shifts and expressing commitment to creating safe spaces for young people. There is increasing awareness of the roles of the community, peers, institutions, government, and policymakers in making services youth–friendly. Leveraging opportunities for collaboration with associations of mental health professionals offers a pathway to scale up such training. With young people advocating more than ever for their mental health rights and needs, the time is right to advance transdisciplinary approaches towards securing their wellbeing. This calls for mental health professionals to be equipped in the best possible way as allies designing with youth, for youth.
