Young people who experience complex trauma are vulnerable to significant impairments in their biological, psychological, and social health outcomes. Specifically, complex trauma survivors can develop severe and complex mental health presentations that cannot be wholly treated by existing Australian mental health funding models. Central Queensland University and Stride Mental Health have partnered, and alongside several other collaborators, they have undertaken a clinical feasibility trial to evaluate the suitability and outcomes associated with a novel model of care, the Tern Programme. Tern was explicitly designed for treating young people with complex posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Fifty-two young people from headspace centres in Townsville and Mackay aged 12-25 received a semi-structured psychosocial intervention for up to 24 months. Data was collected on these participants approximately every three months to track their progress on a selection of clinical, functional, and quality of life measures. Five young people and two staff participated in semi-structured interviews to provide data on their experience of service delivery. This presentation will champion the voices of those participants.
Australian youth with complex posttraumatic stress are currently without access to publicly-funded, specialist treatment programs. The headspace initiative is well-placed to adopt this new model of care to increase access nationwide for youth that would otherwise go undertreated. We intend this project to be the first step for achieving greater recognition and implementation of publicly funded trauma services.