The new Ballarat Youth Prevention and Recovery Centre (YPARC) opened in July, and experts say it’s tailored to youth mental health needs like informality, safety and feeling like you’re just hanging out.
What happened? YPARC opened two years after the multi-million dollar project was first announced.
The Victorian Government pledged to upgrade and build new centres across Victoria, designed to emulate a “welcoming home-like environment” to treat patients between 16 and 25.
The plan also aimed to reduce pressure on hospital admissions.
The set-up: The new centre, located in Newington, has 10 private bedrooms, a shared kitchen and dining space, outdoor gardens and a dedicated visiting area.
The benefits: Dr Margaret Kertesz, a Senior Research Fellow in Social Work at the University of Melbourne, said modern treatments need to focus more on “listening to people with lived experience of mental health problems”.
“You’ve got to think about life stages, being a teenager is very different to when you’re 45, being an adolescent is not an easy thing to be even if you’re in perfect mental health,” Dr Kertesz said.
Dr Kertesz said that when it comes to treatment delivery, teenagers want something “much less formal”, and a “kind of playful engagement that meets them in the language they use.”
“A more homely environment is really important because it’s about being there and creating opportunities to talk, which applies to everyone but especially younger people.”
Dr Kertesz also mentioned that treatment changes as the world changes, and teenagers today are growing up surrounded by rapidly developing technology and news laden with environmental concerns.
A safe place: Often, young people who have experienced trauma “don’t know adults in a safe way”, Dr Kertesz said.
“YPARC, and other facilities, are creating an environment where that safety is there, so they [young people] can have safe relationships, and the work they need to do can start”.
In the past: Cassie*, a teen from Ballarat, faced mental health challenges through her adolescence. She was hospitalised on multiple occasions after self harming.
She said a hospital environment can compound feelings of distress when you’re in a full-blown crisis, and welcomed the updated approach to youth mental health.
“I think the last thing you want is to feel like an inmate,” she told the Brolga. “It’s kind of like you’re a zombie, to be honest, and the whole place just feels like another planet when you’re in that headspace.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, help is available.
Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
More options are available online at ReachOut.