The missing middle service gap: Obtaining a consensus definition of the 'Missing Middle' in youth mental health.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

As highlighted in Australia's Productivity Commission Inquiry into mental health, subgroups of individuals are failing to have their needs met, or are 'falling through the cracks' in the current system - a phenomenon increasingly referred to as the 'missing middle'. A barrier to devising solutions is that the term 'missing middle' is not clearly defined. Using the Delphi method, we aimed to define the term and explore acceptability.

Method

Three expert groups were recruited: carers and young people with a lived experience of mental ill-health; clinicians and service providers; researchers, policymakers and commissioners of mental health services. Using a three-stage Delphi process, we elicited definitions, refined and developed a consensus definition.

Results

SUBMITTER: Menssink JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11783981 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature