EVALUATION OF THE YOUTH BRIEF INTERVENTION SERVICE (yBIS) FOR YOUTH IN CRISIS

ABSTRACT

Background: Young people are presenting to services in greater numbers and with higher levels of psychological distress and acuity, greater clinical complexity and reduced capacity in their support networks in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this there is often a delay in accessing timely youth-oriented care. Through COVID-19 enhancement funding, the youth Brief Intervention Service (yBIS) has been implemented in the Eastern Suburbs Mental Health Service (ESMHS), Sydney, Australia, adapted from the Brief Lifeworks Intervention Program (BLIP) (Project Air Strategy, 2019). Objectives: To report on the yBIS model of care and discuss effectiveness and implementation data for yBIS. Methods: yBIS is offered to young people aged 12-25 years who present to ESMHS in crisis with suicidal ideation and/or self-harm. Participants, together with a parent or guardian, are offered up to four sessions (face-to-face or virtual) with yBIS clinicians, comprising a psychiatrist, psychologists and a nurse specialist, over a 3- to 4-week period. A battery of measures is being collected at baseline, discharge and longer-term follow-up. Primary effectiveness outcomes are level of suicidal ideation and frequency of self-harm. A range of secondary effectiveness outcomes and implementation components will be explored. Findings: yBIS began servicing youth in crisis in June 2021. We anticipate analysing effectiveness-implementation data on 80 participants in March 2022. Conclusion: yBIS may be a feasible and effective service for youth in crisis. There is potential for yBIS to be scaled up pending the results of the service evaluation as one response to the current crisis in youth mental health presentations.