Children’s mental health
Source: NHS Confederation Date: 25 August 2021
The NHS Confederation has published a report looking at the impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health and the services that support them. Findings include: there are significant increases in demand for mental health support for children and young people across all services, and in particular for support for eating disorders. Recommendations include: further funding is needed to address the increase in demand, a greater focus is needed on early intervention and addressing the social factors associated with mental ill health, and staffing shortages need to be addressed by investing in specialists and the training and education of the wider workforce.
Read the summary at source: Reaching the tipping point: children and young people’s mental health
Download the report: Reaching the tipping point: children and young people’s mental health (PDF)
Child wellbeing
Source: Children’s Society Date: 26 August 2021
The Children’s Society has published its annual Good Childhood report, looking at the wellbeing of children in the UK in 2021. Findings from a survey of around 2,000 10- to 17-year-olds between April and June 2021 include: 7% of 10- to 15-year-olds in the UK are not happy with their lives; the areas causing the greatest dissatisfaction are school, friendship and how they feel about their appearance; and 85% of children who rated how well they had coped during the pandemic gave themselves a score of above five out of ten.
Read the summary at source:The good childhood report
Download the report:The good childhood report 2021
Staff wellbeing
Source: St Christopher’s Fellowship Date: 24 August 2021
St Christopher’s Fellowship, a charity which provides children’s homes, has published research into improving emotional wellbeing for children’s social care workforce. Findings from the research includes: introducing individual therapeutic support for staff helped lower the risk of burnout and secondary traumatic stress, and equipping employees with the skills and knowledge to better support young people with trauma increased staff resilience and reduced the risk of secondary traumatic stress.
Read the news story at source: Improving emotional wellbeing for children’s social care workforce
Download the report summary: Summary of ProQOL research into staff wellbeing at St Christopher’s Fellowship: April 2020 – April 2021 (PDF)
Thanks to NSPCC for drawing attention to the above articles.
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