The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle provides a model to test and implement changes in real work settings. More information on the PDSA cycle is provided at Resource 13: Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle.

Some information that the GP may find useful to help them to actively support students with high mental health needs includes the following:

1. Understanding the mental health and other issues relevant for young people - see Resource 6: Young people's mental health problems 
2. Understanding consent issues for young people seeking treatment - see Resource 7: Consent 
3. Knowing how Medicare works for young people - see Resource 9: Medicare 
4. Making the general practice setting one that young people will want to use - see Resource 1: Health Promoting Schools Framework
5. Some guidance regarding holistically assessing the health needs of adolescents - see Resource 11: Adolescent health check

Sustainability

A major challenge to projects is ensuring ongoing sustainability of the positive outcomes of the project. This can be compromised by: staff changes, lack of commitment from stakeholders, lack of effective reporting to stakeholders, and lack of supportive documentation to retain and convey information relevant to the project.

Thinking about sustainability must begin at the commencement of the partnership, and be considered throughout the project.

Very often, sustainability is enhanced through the development of useful documentation during the implementation stages. For example, documenting referral pathways and having these easily accessible, used by multiple staff members, and kept-up-to date, means that such knowledge isn't lost if a staff member leaves the organisation, as useful documented information can be passed on to other staff.

Keeping all the people involved informed also enhances sustainability. This means the school executive, school staff, parents, students, the community, and the general practice setting. The more the project is understood and publicised, the better the chances of ongoing success.