Development of a youth version of the Here and Now Aboriginal Assessment (HANAA-Y) tool

IntroductionAssessment of social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal people is challenging. A The culturally appropriate screening instrument for SEWB in Aboriginal adults entitled Here and Now Aboriginal Assessment (HANAA), has been developed and evaluated. The HANAA explores ten key domains and adopts a yarning process to initiate a semi-structured interview that covers each domain. This is recorded in narrative form and each domain rated as ‘problem’ or ‘no problem’ and a ‘recommended action’ is determined. The HANAA is widely used by Aboriginal mental health service providers around Australia.ObjectivesThere have been multiple requests by service providers for a similar instrument to be developed for young Aboriginal people. This study aims to develop a youth version of the instrument abbreviated as HANAA-Y.MethodsA Working Group comprised of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal psychiatrists and mental health professionals with expertise of SEWB in Aboriginal youth was established and a draft version of the HANAA-Y has been produced. Evaluation od cultural applicability, reliability and validity of HANAA-Y is underway in metropolitan, rural and remote locations across Australia.ResultsThe original HANAA structure, yarning style, and rating has been retained. However, new domains and probe words relevant to young people have been selected. The new domains are as follows: somatic complaints; emotional issues; suicide risk and self-harm; alcohol and drug use; cognition and activity; behavioural and legal issues; strange thoughts and unusual experiences; functioning; stressful life events; and resilience and healing. The HANAA-Y administration guidelines have also been amended to be of relevance to Aboriginal youth.ConclusionsIt is expected that HANAA-Y will be a culturally appropriate and useful instrument which can be used by a range of service providers with differing levels of mental health training to screen for SEWB among young Aboriginal people.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared