Young people's mental health report

Healthwatch Halton designed a short online survey to gather the views and experiences of young people accessing support for their mental health. Feedback suggests that the majority of young people are in general aware of the options they have to get support. The results also show that young people knew where to go to get support to look after their mental well-being, and that for many, being able to go to trusted adults such as their parents, or professionals within education settings is important to them.

Although some of the feedback received suggests that while a lot of young people want parental involvement there were a number who don’t. The numbers who said they would get help from school shows they are seen as really important to young people. This also causes concern as many young people have been away from school for so long during the past year while at the same time many will have been away from their friends, the other go-to support option. These both highlight the potential need for a lot more youth services and mental health support locally.

Most young people had high expectations of how services would interact with them and how they would be involved in their support and treatment. However, some of the feedback received suggests that young people’s expectations aren’t always met and there can be some barriers they face in being able to access services.

The report contains a response from the provider.