# Widening the scope of mental health with a ‘youth centred’ approach: a qualitative study involving health care professionals in Sweden’s youth clinics

## TL;DR

This study explores how youth clinics in Sweden balance mental health care with a youth-centered approach, highlighting challenges and unique roles.

## Contribution

The study introduces a qualitative analysis of youth clinics' evolving roles in mental health care while maintaining youth-centered principles.

## Key findings

- Youth clinics face challenges in maintaining a youth-centered approach while expanding mental health services.
- Youth clinics play a unique role in mental health care through holistic perspectives and teamwork.
- Healthcare professionals are caught between providing optimal care and navigating an unreliable referral system.

## Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how health care providers at youth clinics (YCs) in Sweden engage with, focus on, and navigate across the mental health youth space, while upholding the core bedrock principle of “youth-centeredness”.

Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 health care professionals working in three YCs located in three different regions of Sweden. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis informed by the work of Braun and Clarke.

The three themes were: 1) “youth mission—at the core of the YCs” work and challenged by a stronger involvement in mental ill health’; 2) “YCs” unique and complementary role in the youth mental health system: a holistic perspective, team work, and a focus on normalization’, and 3) “Caught between a rock and a hard place: to treat at a care level that is not optimal for the young users” needs or to refer within an unreliable system’.

This study reflects the individuality and key features of YCs, their widening roles within the mental health sphere, and the challenges faced in maintaining and expanding the characteristic “youth-centred” approach while expanding their work with mental health.