Assessments

The wellbeing nurse uses evidence-based and validated assessment tools to help identify the health and wellbeing needs of children and young people. The following assessment tools and guides are endorsed for use for the WHIN Coordinator program:

Assessment tools and guides

• Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) - Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQs) are brief behavioural screening questionnaires for children aged 4 years to 18 years and includes parent and teacher report versions for all ages, and a self-report measure from 11 to 18 years of age. The questionnaire and scoring function are available in the eMR.
• NSW Youth Health and Wellbeing Assessment Guideline  - The Youth Health and Wellbeing Assessment Guideline includes the youth health and wellbeing assessment tool HEEADSSS (Home, Education/employment, Eating/exercise, Activities/peer relationships, Drug use/cigarettes/alcohol, Sexuality, Suicide/depression, Safety). HEEADSSS is a conversation guide for clinicians to conduct a psychosocial assessment of young people aged 12 to 18 years. Online training on the use of the HEEADSSS is available to NSW Health workers on the NSW Health and Education Training Institute's My Learning platform.
• CRAFFT (Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Friends, Trouble) - CRAFFT is designed to identify substance use, substance-related riding/driving risk, and substance use disorder among young people aged 12 to 18 years. There are two versions of CRAFFT, a Clinician Interview and a Self-administered Questionnaire.
• SCOFF (Sick, Control, One, Fat, Food)- SCOFF is a brief screening to tool to assess young people aged 12-18 years on the possible presence of an eating disorder.
• DASS-Y (Depression, Anxiety Stress) - DASS-Y is an instrument for use with children and young people aged 8 to 17 years of age to measure the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress. 
• ASQ (Ages and Stages Questionnaires) and ASQ-Trak - The Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) are parent-report measures for development and social-emotional screening for children from birth to five years and six months of age. It includes ASQ-3 that assesses the developmental progress and ASQ:SE-that assesses social-emotional development. ASQ-Trak is used to track the developmental progress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and is administered by interview.