title: Ten guiding principles for youth mental health services.
abstract: Guiding principles are arguably central to the development of any health service. The aim of this article is to report on the outcomes of a youth mental health (YMH) community of practice (CoP), which identified a range of guiding principles that provide a clear point of comparison for the only other set of principles for YMH service delivery proposed to date.
  
  
  
  A YMH CoP was established in 2010 as part of the Victorian State Government approach to improving YMH care. An initial literature search was undertaken to locate articles on YMH service delivery. A number of common themes were identified, which the YMH community of practice (YMHCoP) members then elaborated upon by drawing from their collective experience of the YMH sector. The resultant themes were then refined through subsequent group discussions to derive a definitive set of guiding principles. These principles were then augmented by a second literature search conducted in July 2015.
  
  
  
  Fifteen key themes were derived from the initial literature search and YMH CoP discussions. These were refined by the YMH CoP to produce 10 guiding principles for YMH service development. These are discussed through reference to the relevant literature, using the only other article on principles of YMH service delivery as a notable point of comparison.
  
  
  
  The 10 principles identified may be useful for quality improvement and are likely to have international relevance. We suggest the timely pursuit of an international consensus on guiding principles for service delivery under the auspices of a peak body for YMH.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Youth Mental Health, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: North-Western Mental Health, Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hebel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Youth Mental Health, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Badcock
authors.affiliation: Centre for Youth Mental Health, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Alexandra G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D000328:Adult; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D014739:Victoria; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: community of practice; mental health service delivery; mental health service development; principles; youth mental health; youth mental health services