Barriers and facilitators to implementation of a community wellbeing service for black, Asian and minoritised young people

Background:
Young people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds experience greater mental health needs and face greater challenges when accessing mental health support. We evaluated implementation of a new mental wellbeing service for minoritised young people in an urban youth centre.

Methods:
We evaluated the service during its first 12 months of implementation. We held twelve interviews with four service practitioners and three paired interviews with six young people. Fieldnotes were taken and used to contextualise interview data. Practitioners recorded young people’s attendance. Qualitative data were analysed thematically. Attendance data were analysed descriptively.

Results:
The service included Four components: a weekly two-hour session with mental health practitioners in the youth centre, opportunistic wellbeing conversations and activities, mentoring, and referrals to therapeutic support. It was developed iteratively to allow time for relationships between practitioners and with young people to develop and for intervention to be tailored to the setting.

Implementation was facilitated by the setting’s positive influence, practitioners’ lived experience, iterative development of the service, and establishing trusting relationships. Barriers included the informal nature of activities, slow service implementation, and young people’s inconsistent attendance and reluctance to engage with the service. 94 young people attended at least one session.

Conclusion:
Successful implementation of wellbeing services in community settings for minoritised young people can be affected by the informal and relaxed nature of the setting and the activities delivered, and the extent to which young people are willing to engage. Additionally, it requires relationship building and flexibility in delivery and pace. Future development and evaluation of similar services should consider these requirements.