Community-based rehabilitation programme for adolescents with mental health conditions in Israel: a qualitative study protocol

INTRODUCTION: In Israel, 12% of adolescents have mental health conditions. Approximately 600 adolescents with mental health conditions are hospitalised each year and about 40% of them return to the hospital and are thus cut-off from their daily lives and peers in the community. In contrast to adults, adolescents with mental health conditions in Israel are not eligible by law for rehabilitation services. Thus, the overarching goal of this qualitative study is to identify best practices for the implementation of community-based psychosocial rehabilitation programme for this population, by examining the first such programme in Israel. Amitim for Youth, which was established in 2018 by the Israel Association of Community Centers in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and the Special Projects Fund of the National Insurance Institute. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Qualitative data will be collected through in depth semi-structured interviews and focus groups. To identify themes and patterns in the data, a six-stage reflexive thematic analysis approach will be used. A triangulation procedure will be conducted to strengthen the validity of the findings collected by different methods and from various stakeholders in the programme: the programme’s decision-makers, programme team members, the intended beneficiaries and referring mental health professionals. To insure the trustworthiness of the findings, three strategies will be employed: memo writing, reflexive journaling and member checking. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research in the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at the University of Haifa (#455–18) and by the Chief Scientist in the Ministry of Education (#10566). All participants will sign an informed consent form and will be guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity. Data collection will be conducted in the next 2 years (2019 to 2020). After data analysis, the findings will be disseminated via publications.