New guidelines have recently been released on the move from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to adult services for young people with psychological, emotional or behavioural problems.

Although Tourette’s is not a mental health problem, some of the associated conditions make many of these principles applicable to those who are about to leave CAMHS and need support from the Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) or alternative groups. Follow the links below to find out the best practices that health professionals should be following.

“Adolescence is a period of intense change for young people and a time when mental health problems may emerge or become more severe.  When young people receiving mental health services for children and adolescents move to adult mental health services or alternative this is known as transition.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has produced a new guide: Mental Health Transitions for Young People. The guide identifies ten key principles for improving transition, these include:
•         ensuring that young people fully understand their mental health problem, proposed treatment and support options
•         the transition should take into account the young person's whole life including family, friends, housing and education
•         young people should move to flexible and age appropriate services
•         staff need to work collaboratively with other services such as social care, health and voluntary services".  
Patricia Kearney    
Head of Children and Families, SCIE