My Health, Our Future - Part three

Healthwatch Suffolk undertook a further wave of their research about the wellbeing of children and young people in Suffolk.  4,889 children and young people responded to a survey.  The survey took place between April and July 2022. This year’s results are split into three reports.  This is the third report of three.

Key findings included:

• There is a decline in the number of young people who feel they have somebody to turn to for support between Year 7 and Year 11. LGBQ students and students who describe their gender in another way were least likely to have someone to turn to for support.
• Students were asked about their experience of services that support young people’s mental health. Some highlighted services had helped them to obtain an official diagnosis, enabling them to access support or treatment. Young people sometimes felt dismissed, ignored and not listened to when visiting services. Some felt services had made things worse for them.
• Students were asked to identify what methods of support had worked to support their mental health and emotional wellbeing at school. Young people highlighted multiple methods of support that had worked when turning to a teacher, or member of support staff, for support, including intervention, information and offering time for support meetings. Young people gave multiple reasons why they didn’t seek support, including people not understanding, it not going well the first time and feeling like a burden.
• The percentage of young people that said they have received information about mental health in school slightly increased since the 2021 survey. However, 10% more young people said the information didn’t always cover topics they were interested in. Over three quarters (78%) of young people with severe, moderate, and mild anxiety levels indicated that they wanted to learn about anxiety in school or college.