The "Heidelberg Early Intervention Centre" - a model of collaborative mental health care for adolescents and young adults

The phase of 'adolescence' or 'youth' represents the transition period from childhood towards adulthood. This period is usually accompanied by considerable biological and psychosocial changes, and goes along with an increased risk for the manifestation of mental disorders. Psychiatric disorders in youth often lead to a disturbance of essential developmental tasks; thus, negative consequences for the future life course and health prognosis are very common. Early detection and intervention of mental health problems are important goals of current health care policies; however, they often lack implementation in real-life settings. One of the major problems of youth mental health is the discontinuity of care when individuals reach legal age. For more than a decade, the Heidelberg Early Intervention Centre represents an interdisciplinary mental health care unit for the treatment of adolescents and young adults with psychiatric disorders. Here, the Departments of General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Hospital Heidelberg provide joint support for youth in mental crisis. Unique features of the Heidelberg Early Intervention Centre are: flexible treatment setting (inpatient unit, day-clinic, outpatient-service, and outreach capacities) allowing continuity of the therapeutic team; functioning-oriented approach with focus on adolescent-specific problems; short-term treatment including psychosocial support for the development of future life perspectives. In general, the Heidelberg Early Intervention Centre constitutes an example of integrative and interdisciplinary youth mental health care.