Adolescent Mental Health Report, Companies Improve Provision & New Educational Program Success
Good afternoon 👋
Apologies for the short absence.
Due to permission issues on this platform, we were temporarily unable to access our account and therefore unable to publish. Quite frustrating too, considering there’s been plenty of activity in the Mental Health space, so let’s get straight into it!
This week we learned that 2 in 5 young people report symptoms of mental ill-health1 that students who are educated early on mental health report higher intentions of seeking help2 and that 1/4 of large listed employers improved their performance on workplace mental health in the past year3
Opinion 🗣️
By Charlie Penwarden.
Over the past few weeks there’s been an understandable outrage in the mental health community following the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s decision to selectively refuse to attend 999 incidents if they are judged to be mental health related and non-life-threatening.
Justified outrage? Or tough decisions to expedite change?
The Met Police are already at breaking point and this appears to be the simplest blanket decision considering that there is only basic mental health training given to officers on the beat and should it have been their responsibility in the first place?
There are simply not enough services to support someone going through an acute mental health crisis that the only options people have are to call the Police if there’s a criminal threat of harm or the Ambulance service if there’s a physical threat to life.
The consequences of this decision will be realised when it comes into effect this September, which doesn’t give the already broken mental health system much time to operationalise nationwide emergency mental health call handlers nor bolster the existing understaffed crisis ‘home resolution’ community teams.
When I was active in clinical practice for my local crisis team, there was just one on-call psychiatrist, one nurse and two support workers covering an area of over half a million people. Bouncing between the town’s A&E (ER) centres and police custody.
It’s a bold decision, that’s for sure, but one that I hope instigates a fast-track service upgrade to be able to re-route the 999 incident calls and mobilise the compassionate support that people need during a time of crisis.
Pressure’s on.
Research 🎓
Aside from floaty anecdotal evidence; it’s been notoriously challenging to prove the overall effectiveness that better education and open discussions about mental health can have on outcomes.
We’ve all known for years that most mental health problems start in the teenage years, with a recent NHS survey identifying that 2 in 5 young people report symptoms of mental ill-health. But unfortunately, due to poor knowledge of mental health issues and stigma about mental ill-health, most young people don’t have the facilities or the wherewithal to seek help.
New research from Action for Children, in collaboration with Cardiff & Swansea universities, has just been published that demonstrates the benefits of improving pupils mental health literacy at a crucial stage in their development.
The study group of 2,000 students aged 13 and 14 were split into two groups for a randomized control trial with the active group given access to specially trained teachers following an evidence-based program and the control group just taught the standard curriculum.
Of the active group participants, the following results were observed:
Better mental health behaviors
Reduced mental health stigma
Increased intention to seek help
Whilst these are difficult to quantify, the results should form the basis of solid evidence to encourage an evolution in embedded mental health teacher training.
Top stories 📰
United States
This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it’s working to make it easier for schools to receive payment for mental health services delivered to students impacted by gun violence. The US Department of Education has since awarded $286 million to boost the training, hiring, and diversification of mental health professionals in schools. It’s also distributed $1 billion in the Stronger Connections Grant program, and provided an additional $50 million for before and after-school programming.
Read more 🔗
United Kingdom
The University of Bristol is now part of a £42 million 'Mental Health Mission' announced by the Government to accelerate research into mental health conditions, including those impacting children. The research will develop radical new treatments, improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and increase the use of technology to free up clinician time.
Read more 🔗
United Kingdom
Almost 1/4 of the UK’s largest listed employers have improved their performance on workplace mental health overall in the past year, and almost 1/2 now recognise the link between financial wellbeing and the mental health of their employees.
Read more 🔗
United Kingdom
The Welsh Government has moved to expand the provision of mental health support as it launches an update to the NHS 111 service. The 111 (press option 2) service will give people crucial 24/7 access to a mental health professional who can provide over-the-phone assessments to guide people through crises and help alleviate stress.
Read more 🔗
Spotlight 🔍
Community
A healthcare organisation in Ontario, Canada, recently announced that Ryan Finch has donated $5 million to fund research into new solutions to make it easier for patients to access mental health care. The funds will support a new research chair in mental health system transformation, a first in Canada. The chair will aim to develop collaborative initiatives that help create change in the mental health system.
Company
Of all the online therapy services, only one of them in the US has a qualified clinical psychiatrist at the helm: Cerebral. Last week we had the pleasure of chatting to David Mou MD MBA, and his passion for increasing the provision of care and dedication positive patient outcomes was palpable. Read more about his vision 🔗
Campaigner
The light shines on Rob Stephenson this week after another successful InsideOut Awards ceremony in London, UK, last week. The InsideOut Awards celebrate the most impactful mental health players in the workplace and this year’s winners included Booking.com, Deutsche Bank and Nationwide Building Society.
Continue the conversation in the comments!
Thanks for reading and see you next week.
References
Source: People Y. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2021 - wave 2 follow up to the 2017 survey - NDRS. NDRS. Published 2021. Accessed June 20, 2023.