ABSTRACT
Complex needs in young people can embrace a diverse range of co-occurring problems including substance misuse, mental health, offending, early sexual involvement and educational disadvantage. This is a formidable battery of presenting needs for health care professionals who often have limited time and resources to impact on entrenched difficulties. This can be further compounded by the emotional labour of working with young lives, where it can seem that there is so much at stake.
This chapter explores further:
A conceptual framework to understand the intersection of multiple needs in order to offer clinical direction in health investigations with young people.
A focus on substance use as a behavioural benchmark for the more impenetrable drivers of complexity.
