Children and Young People’s Views of Mental Health

This is a report by Healthwatch County Durham. The project looks at young people's views on mental health.

The participants of this piece of work ranged from 14 to 25 and were from a whole host of backgrounds consisting of school children, college pupils, university students, NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and expectant and young parents. A total of 219 were engaged.

Overall mental health would seem a very relevant topic to people in this report. Mental health as a topic was affecting young people through their families and also personally.

There are recommendations in this report.

• Dedicated lived experience peer support workers for children and young people - individuals who can relate to individuals through shared experience, specifically trained to support and advise those under the age of 25 years old.
• Better education around mental health, which should include how to support family members who have mental health issues.
• Actively promote anti-stigma messages within settings for young people, to help reduce the barriers to speaking out.
• Increase health literacy to empower children and young people to feel confident in seeking mental health support.
• Develop a positive culture where people feel they can speak up and their voices will be heard, listened to and acted on, regardless of age.
• Safe spaces to be established, in places accessible by children and young people, where they can speak honestly, in confidence and without fear of judgement.
• Use a person-centred approach to ensure adequate transitional support from children’s services into adult services. Ensuring that the young person is equally important in the process and listening to their views and needs. Involving the young person and their family or carers, health and care professionals, and colleagues in education, as appropriate.

There are no follow up actions in this report.