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Listen up! A project by the Mental Health Foundation

This six year project about young people consisted of two phases. The first phase was called Youth Crisis 1 (2002-2004). For this, we consulted young people to find out what they wanted from services when they were experiencing mental health problems.

The consultation was hosted by four organisations and we talked to almost 200 young people across the UK. Young people identified a wish list which included:

fast-track access to treatment and care
the opportunity for each young person to build a rapport with one person to guide them through services
greater sensitivity from service professionals in times of crisis
alternatives to medication
preventative strategies and access to resources prior to crisis point.

The second phase of the project was called Listen Up! (2004-2007). We worked with eight partner sites willing to take responsive, creative and new approaches to their work, especially in relation to the 'wish list' identified in Youth Crisis 1.

Through the eight sites, we consulted with young people to explore in greater depth young people’s actual experiences of using services.

Participants were asked to explain what parts of the service worked well and what could be improved, in terms of its environment and the staff working there.

They were asked to describe why they used the service and what prevented them from disengaging from it. They were also asked to compare the service they were using at the time to ones they were no longer attending.

All the findings and recommendations are discussed in the final report, Listen Up!

Useful links

Listen Up! Report

The report discusses the findings from the project and shows that the voluntary sector is providing the kind of mental health services that young people want – flexible, informal and holistic – but often in the face of chronic funding shortages.

We also provide a number of recommendations to the Government and commissioners. These include the need for:

serious backing for voluntary sector providers of young people’s mental health care
changes in the way in which Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are delivered.

Read or order Listen Up!