The 'Youth access to and utilisation of youth appropriate health services' System Level Measure (SLM) consists of five domains with corresponding outcomes and national health indicators (shown in table below).
| Domain | Outcome | National Indicator |
|---|---|---|
| Youth Experience of Health System | Young people feel safe and supported by health services | Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Real-Time Survey results for 10–24 year olds |
| Sexual and Reproductive Health | Young people manage their sexual and reproductive health safely and receive youth friendly care | Chlamydia testing coverage for 15–24 year olds |
| Mental Health and Wellbeing | Young people experience less mental distress and disorder and are supported in times of need | Self-harm hospitalisations and short stay ED presentations for <24 year olds |
| Alcohol and Other Drugs | Young people experience less alcohol and drug related harm and receive appropriate support | Alcohol-related ED presentations for 10–24 year olds |
| Access to Preventive Services | Young people receive the services they need to keep healthy | Adolescent oral health utilisation for school year 9–17 years of age |
The Youth SLM was co-developed with input from a broad range of people with a particular interest in youth health including Ministry for Social Development, Ministry of Education, Office of Childrens' Commission, sector groups such as Ara Taiohi, Youth One Stop Shops, clinicians from across primary and secondary care, academia, and Ministry of Health (the Ministry). The Ministry also worked with youth agencies to facilitate several youth focus groups and one-on-one interviews to seek feedback from young people on what was meaningful to them and what this SLM should look like. This is reflected in the choice of domains and indicators.
The Youth engagement story board (PDF, 189) presents the input from young people on the SLM.
After the youth System Level Measure was implemented in July 2017, the Ministry then ran a survey to find out what people from different parts of the health sector thought of the five domains and indicators that make up the measure to see if any amendments were required. The survey found that most respondents felt that the five domains were appropriate but needed time for the measure to be established. About half of the survey respondents were involved in the implementation of the youth System Level Measure in their districts. The survey identified that better engagement and communication is required from both the Ministry and the district alliances. Given the results of the survey, the youth System Level Measure (youth access to and utilisation of youth appropriate health services), the five domains and their associated national indicators have been confirmed to remain unchanged. The Survey story board (PDF, 158 KB) presents the full results of the survey.
Data for the five national indicators are provided by the Ministry on the Nationwide Service Framework Library.
The technical definitions of the measures are held in the Measures Library at Health Quality Measures NZ.
District alliances are expected to work with the relevant health and wider sector partners as appropriate, to implement this SLM. A Youth Service Level Alliance Team that includes perspectives of youth health across DHBs and the community, including young people, is the most appropriate forum to determine the priorities for youth in the district, and help develop and implement the youth health SLM.
District alliances are required to select a minimum of one domain and use the national indicator for that domain to set an improvement milestone, and select quality improvement activities and contributory measures that are appropriate to this domain. There must be a clear line of sight between the activities and contributory measures and the national indicator. The selected domain should reflect the domain in greatest need of improvement locally.