Whatworks4u.org

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Whatworks4u.org is a research project conducted by Prof Tony Jorm and the Mental Health Literacy research team at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne. The project is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Background
Although most mental health problems begin in adolescence, there is a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of treatments for young people aged 12-25 who are experiencing a mental disorder 1,2. This information about treatments is important as some treatments that have been extensively studied in adults have been found to have a different effect in adolescents 3.
The most common treatments studied in adolescents are psychotherapies and medications, with only a limited number of studies in this area looking at a variety of treatments that might help to reduce symptoms including self-help and complementary therapies. Not enough studies have been conducted to find highly effective treatments; most studies do not assess the long term effectiveness of treatments, and generally studies are not conducted on a wide variety of disorders, do not represent real world assessments, and have resulted in mixed findings regarding how well the treatment works 3-5.
More research needs to be conducted in order to find out what treatments are effective for adolescents and these treatments can be used to help curb the high rates of mental health problems in adolescents.

Aim of the project
The aim of this project is to investigate young peoples’ self- reported helpfulness ratings of and side-effects for a variety of treatments for mental illnesses. The goal of the website is increase our knowledge of effective treatments for adolescent mental disorder diagnoses and symptoms, and can guide future research into treatment efficacy. The website also hopes to increase awareness of mental health treatment options and inform treatment decisions based on what has worked for similar young people.

The website
Launched in April 2011, young people can log on to whatworks4u.org and enter their mental health treatment information through the ‘Share what works’ section. Mental health treatment information includes diagnoses and duration of illness, as well as rating the helpfulness of treatments tried and health professionals seen from a wide variety of treatment options. These treatment options include professionally delivered therapies such as cognitive and family therapies, medications including antidepressants and anti-psychotics, self-help strategies like improving sleep hygiene and exercising, and even alternative strategies such as aromatherapy.
Once entered, this treatment information is collated amongst users and fed back on the website through the ‘Learn from others’ section. Here, consumers, carers and health professionals can view the overall self-reported helpfulness ratings and side effects for the variety of diagnoses and treatments.

Reporting
Scientific journal articles will be written and published from the mental health treatment information gathered through whatworks4u.org to further share the self-report helpfulness ratings and side-effects with the health and scientific communities.
For more information, please visit whatworks4u.org

References
1.    Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: summary of results. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4326.02007?OpenDocument.
2.    Hazell, P., O'Connell, D., Heathcote, D., Robertson, J., & Henry, D. (1995). Efficacy of tricyclic drugs in treating child and adolescent depression: a meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 310, 897-901.
3.    Klein, J. B., Jacobs, R. H., & Reinecke, M. A. (2007). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescent depression: A meta-analytic investigation of changes in effect-size estimates. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46(11), 1403-1413.
4.    Seligman, M. E. P. (1995). The effectiveness of psychotherapy: The consumer reports study. American Psychologist, 50(12), 965-974.
5.    Weisz, J. R., McCarty, C. A., & Valeri, S. M. (2006). Effects of Psychotherapy for depression in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(1), 132-149.
 

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