Emotional Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People in South Tyneside

Good mental health and wellbeing is crucial for the healthy development of children and young people (CYP), helping them to develop resilience, face the challenges of adolescence and adulthood, and fulfil their role in society. Mental wellbeing can be influenced by a range of individual, familial, social and environmental factors that can impact on Children and Young People throughout their development. Whilst good emotional and social wellbeing is associated with good physical health, academic engagement and economical independence, poor mental health can have significant long lasting and far-reaching impacts on Children and Young People.

The WHO constitution states [WHO Health and Well-Being]:

• Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders.
• Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health.
• Mental health is determined by a range of socioeconomic, biological and environmental factors.
• Cost-effective public health and intersectoral strategies and interventions exist to promote, protect and restore mental health.

Mental health is an integral and essential component of health. "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." An important implication of this definition is that mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.

Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to contribute to his or her community.

Mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living, and enjoy life. On this basis, the promotion, protection, and restoration of mental health can be regarded as a vital concern of individuals, communities, and societies throughout the world.

Half of all long-term adult mental health disorders are established by age 14 and three quarters by the age of 24 (NHS Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017): The impacts of poor mental health can be seen on social relationships, educational attainment, physical health, crime, homelessness, and employment prospects.

Children are at a higher risk of developing mental illness if they experience adverse events in childhood, are looked after by the local authority, if they have a long-term illness or disability, if they are a young carer or if they have a parent with a substance misuse problem. Children with stable home lives, who attend school regularly and who have positive relationships with their peers and adults have a reduced risk for mental illness.

South Tyneside has developed strong, evidence-based strategies to support Children and Young People, particularly through improving access to mental health services, including the introduction of the Health Minds Teams, the Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) service, and working in partnership to develop family hubs and offer training for professionals and school staff.

There has also been significant investment in the workforce; not only in health, but across a wide range of public sector roles; in addition to this, schools have made a concerted effort to build resilience.

During the COVID-19 lockdown period between March and June 2020, there was a significant reduction in referrals to mental health services, partly due to school closures and restrictions on GP services, but also related to face-to-face work ceasing for all but the most vulnerable. Referrals have increased since then, but there is further work being undertaken to understand the impact of the reduction of referrals on CYP's mental health and the impact of the reduction in face-to-face services.

National policy (Long term Plan, 2019) recognises the need to improve the experience young people have with their mental health and that changes need to be made to improve transitions and support for young children and young adults.

NICE Guidelines state that Health and Wellbeing Boards should ensure the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children features in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy, as one of the most effective ways of addressing health inequalities. The resulting plan should include outcomes to ensure healthy child development and 'readiness for school' and to prevent mental health and behavioural problems. 

Health and Wellbeing Strategy Vision:

South Tyneside's vision statement within the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy is to:

"Work in partnership to improve the health, wellbeing and quality of life for children, adults and families and reduce health inequalities, to help people live longer and healthier lives."

South Tyneside uses the Thrive approach to supporting young people. The Thrive Framework is an integrated, person centred, and needs led approach to delivering mental health services for children, young people and their families. It conceptualises need in five categories: Thriving, Getting Advice and Signposting, Getting Help, Getting More Help and Getting Risk Support.  One of the important factors is the common use of language and understanding across the partnership, however, the most important shift in using the Thrive Model is the emphasis on a needs-led approach and ensuring there is shared decision making with the young person and their family, along with person-led goals, which are reviewed to measure outcomes achieved. 

South Tyneside remains one of the top ICB areas, with the highest spend per child.