How Can We Actually Change Help-Seeking Behaviour for Mental Health Problems among the General Public?: Development of the ‘PLACES’ Model.

Good treatment uptake is essential for clinically effective interventions to be fully utilised. Numerous studies have examined barriers to help-seeking for mental health treatment and to a lesser extent, facilitators. However, much of the current research focusses on changing help-seeking attitudes which often do not lead to changes in behaviour. There is a clear gap in the literature for interventions that successfully change help-seeking behaviour among the general public. This gap is particularly relevant for early intervention. Here we describe the development of a new model which combines facilitators to treatment and an engaging acceptable intervention for the general public. It is called the ‘PLACES’ (Publicity, Lay, Acceptable, Convenient, Effective, Self-referral) model of treatment engagement. It is based on theoretical work, as well as empirical research on a low intensity psychoeducational CBT intervention: one-day workshops for stress and depression. In this paper, we describe the development of the model and the results of its use among 4 different clinical groups (adults experiencing stress, depression, adolescents (age 16-18) and mothers with postnatal depression). High rates of uptake by people who have previously not sought help and racial and ethnic minority groups across all 4 clinical groups. The clinical and research implications and applications of this model are discussed.