Improving Emotional Wellbeing for Young People Mike Derry and Anna D Agostino - Healthwatch Richmond
Aim To collect young people's experiences of: Emotional wellbeing and related services Recommend improvements resulting from these.
Approach Partnership between Healthwatch and Youth Councils in Richmond and Kingston Co-produced with young people throughout Project informed by stakeholder engagement
Who responded? 1580 usable responses Sample closely matched populations Findings strongly evidenced and highly consistent across the population
Who responded? Includes people who have accessed all types of support: CAMHS Tiers 1 & 2 School based support Voluntary sector support Findings are generalizable across all emotional wellbeing/mental health services for young people.
Accessing support 1 in 3 respondents had needed support for their emotional wellbeing. Of those, people were evenly split into: Accessed support that worked Accessed support that didn t help Needed support but didn t access it
Net ratings of wellbeing by access to support 30.00% 20.00% 17.26% 16.67% 10.00% 0.00% -10.00% -20.00% -30.00% -30.35% -30.65% -40.00% I have not needed support for my mental wellbeing I accessed support for my mental wellbeing and it helped me I accessed support for my mental wellbeing and it did not help me I needed support for my mental wellbeing but did not access it Net wellbeing 17.26% 16.67% -30.35% -30.65%
Factors impacting young people s emotional wellbeing: 2 in 3 report stress, exams and pressure to succeed 1 in 2 report self-confidence, relationships, pressure to look good and family problems 1 in 3 report bullying online or in person 1 in 4 said LGBT issues 1 in 5 reported prejudice or ethnicity issues 1 in 7 said that violence
Demography More likely to need services but less likely to get the help they need: Young women Transgender people Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and other sexualities White other groups Recommendation: target support and promotional work to those who need care.
Support that didn t help About this group 50% rate their wellbeing negatively Female, LGBT and those 16-17 most likely to be in this group. Feel that they can t ask for help (37%) Less likely to speak to family members (36%) Feel that nothing could help them (27%) Do not know where to go for help (25%)
Relationships with professionals I didn t respond to the treatment because they repeated the same things which I knew. so I did not want to respond I did not really progress into anything, just mulled over the same situation and one solutions that wasn t really going to work out
Recommendation 1 Young people should be told what to expect from their support, what outcomes to look for, and what input is required It should be easy for young people to feedback their experiences anonymously and improvements should be monitored
Access to CAMHS I was referred to CAMHS by my GP, GOSH and school on three separate occasions but all my referrals were denied by CAMHS There was a long time delay between my initial assessment and being given regular therapy They have NO crisis service and no duty worker. Their advice is to go to A&E
Recommendation 2 Improve Access Review criteria for CAMHS and provide support for those in need but who do not meet the criteria. The long-time delay between initial assessment and treatment received as well as the long waiting list need to be addressed. Provide interactive online support and counselling
Needing support but didn t access it 49.25% report their wellbeing negatively Most likely to by LGB, White other or female Unlikely to speak to family or professional 44% didn t feel they could ask for help 30% were not sure what to do or where to turn to 19% felt nothing could help them
Stigma attached to mental health professionals say that everything is confidential. However that is a lie. Everything gets told to our parents/teachers, even the things we do not wish them to know Once you seek help, people start making assumptions about you. Therefore, I chose to keep to myself and suffer in silence I felt I would be judged, criticised if my other classmates heard it
Are my problems serious enough? Will I be taken seriously? 44% didn t feel they could ask for help 27% did not feel that there was anything that could help them I didn t feel like my problem was important enough I was worried that the situation wasn t that important and that there were more important things for people to be dealing with People would just stay get over it
Recommendation: address stigma Set up a campaign to combat the stigma attached to mental health problems and to encourage people to speak to someone. The message should be clear that: It is as acceptable to talk about a mental health issue as a physical problem No issue is too small to talk about Provide confidential and online support
Accessed helpful support People in this group rated their wellbeing as positively as those who had never needed support. They were more likely to speak to friends of family members seek counselling seek support online
Informal support (someone they trusted) [Talking to] friends and family was a safe space to get advice from people who knew me and were not judgemental in any capacity
Online support (34% accessed it) Online forum [helped] because a lot of people of my age were on it and other people went through it and wanted to help others
Counselling (30% would access it) [Counselling] helped me find the root of the problems and tackle them
Schools Positive feedback: Friendly, supportive environment Trusted teachers Taking mental health seriously Praised for acknowledging academic pressure I believe that all of the staff working at my school will not allow poor emotional well being in a pupil to go unnoticed and once an issue has been flagged up
Schools Positive feedback: It is a friendly environment and give us positive messages I find the teachers at my college really helpful, I feel like they truly want to help students find ways to cope well with their studies
Schools Negative feedback: Poor support and promotion of mental health 48% wanted better information from schools Negative staff attitude Bullying Stigma Not acknowledging academic pressure
Schools Negative feedback: I do feel that it is hard to confide in teachers because they are seen as distant and unapproachable. It's hard to talk to some about feelings when they often hurt your feelings by telling you off There is a huge pressure to succeed which has negatively affected some people quite seriously
Recommendations for Schools Create a positive School environment and culture Raise awareness and open discussion around mental health Acknowledge academic pressures and limit mental distress
Table discussions Improving access to effective support Communications and Promotion Improving support in schools
Improving access to effective support Address CAMHS threshold and long waiting list Make support accessible in the community Change the way mental health support is delivered Encourage young people s feedback on their counselling experience
Communications and Promotion Address stigma Provide an online interactive counselling service Promote services currently available Target support to those who need care most
Improving support in schools Create a positive School environment and culture Raise awareness and open discussion around mental health Acknowledge academic pressures and limit mental distress Address stigma
Contact details Anna D Agostino Project, Outreach and Comms Officer Healthwatch Richmond Tel 020 8099 5335 anna@healthwatchrichmond.co.uk