The Service Needs Index: A Tool to Quantify Complexity and Identify Treatment Needs in Youth Mental Health Services

Background While digital technologies can facilitate the comprehensive mental health assessment of an individual’s treatment needs, they also enable the aggregation and analysis of data at a population or service level. The Service Needs Index (made up of clinical, psychosocial, and comorbidity components) collectively expresses a concise metric for the type, range, and complexity of young people’s treatment needs. Methods Using data from 1611 young people, we examined the Service Needs Index (made up of Clinical, Psychosocial, and Comorbidity subscores) across four mental health service populations ( headspace Camperdown, urban headspaces , regional headspaces , and Mind Plasticity (a private practice in Sydney, Australia). ANCOVA and pairwise comparisons were conducted controlling for age and sex. Bayesian logistic regression examined the association between index scores and the odds of being at-risk for psychological distress. Results There was significant variability in service needs index scores (and subscores) between the four service populations. The private practice (Mind Plasticity) and regional headspaces had greater complexity than urban headspace services and headspace Camperdown. Complexity was driven by different patterns, with Mind Plasticity having relatively higher clinical and comorbidity needs, while regional headspace services had higher clinical and psychosocial needs. Higher index scores were associated with increased odds of being at-risk for a mental disorder (Kessler-10 > 25), with the Service Needs Index requiring the lowest necessary score increase (6.1-units) to double the odds of being at-risk (OR = 2.0). Conclusions The differences across service groups provide examples on how indices may shape policy and system-level decision-making in headspace services and other Primary Health Networks. The Service Needs Index measures complexity and could inform system-level decision-making by providing insights into trends, resource allocation, and the efficacy of interventions across broader groups.