Left to their own devices: Addressing the unmet needs of youth and their GPs during the wait time for mental health treatment

This project addresses the unmet psychological needs of Australian teens who are on wait lists for mental health treatment. We bring together outstanding national and international inter-disciplinary Early and Mid Career Research (EMCR) experts with four health service partners to examine a new service model for general practice (called While We Wait) that aims to improve this under-researched setting by delivering an 'essential elements' model of care. This new and novel model upskills the GP in providing care by incorporating low-intensity, engaging digital interventions as active ingredients to directly target the psychological of needs of youth during the wait time. This small-scale development project will examine the feasibility, acceptability, and likely impacts of this novel service model for (i) addressing the unmet psychological needs of youth during the wait time and (ii) improving the capabilities of their treating GPs. This project will establish new healthcare partnerships to generate the evidence that will prepare the service model for broader implementation across Australia and evaluation in a larger, adequately powered efficacy trial.