World Mental Health Day 2020 Infographic - The shadow pandemic - children’s mental health
In England, the Centre for Mental Health has predicted that up to 10M people – almost a fifth of the population – will need mental health support as a direct consequence of Covid-19, with 1.5M of those expected to be children and young people under 18.
We’ve created an infographic the highlight why the UK Government needs to prioritise Children and Young People’s mental health as the demand for services is expected to increase:
1. An avalanche is coming: surging demand for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) anticipated due to COVID-19.
Up to 1.5 million young people under 18 will need either new or additional mental health support due to the coronavirus pandemic. To put this in context 1.5 million CYP are estimated to have at least one diagnosed mental health condition before COVID-19.
(Centre for Mental Health, NHS Digital, 2020; Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017; ONS)
2. Many Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services were already struggling before COVID-19.
Around 75 per cent of young people experiencing a mental health problem are unable to access any treatment at all. (Mental Health Foundation)
In 2019, a third (29%) of GPs said that over 76% of all CYP referrals were rejected by CAMHS. (Stem4: The Failure of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services 2019)
3. Untreated mental illness is associated with serious consequences for children, families and communities.
10% of young people have mental health problems so significant that they impact not only on their day-to-day life but, if left untreated, they will continue into adulthood. (Mental health: Early intervention and prevention in children and young people, British Journal of Nursing, Membride et al, 2016)
85% of parents identified a deterioration in their child’s mental health while waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to support them (Young Minds: A new era for young people’s mental health 2020)
4. Digital therapeutics can play a vital role opening up access and scaling up early intervention support.
40% of CAMHS decision makers believe digital interventions could play the biggest role in early intervention support, followed by 30% for improving access, 10% to reduce waiting list. (BfB Labs Survey Oct 2020)
Two thirds (69%) of parents said that neither they nor their children had been signposted to any other form of support during the time they were waiting for support from CAMHS (Young Minds: A new era for young people’s mental health 2020)
5. Significant barriers remain around integrating digital therapeutics
Widespread adoption is not guaranteed even if a digital therapeutic has been approved by the Medicines Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA), is CE marked, has demonstrated high levels of safety, efficacy, and has good economic data
4 out of 10 CAMHS decision makers say they have not adopted any new digital mental health therapies to support children’s mental health since the onset of COVID-19. Cost, lack of clinical evidence, and limited knowledge of digital interventions are the three major reasons cited by NHS CCGs as the key barriers for integrating new digital therapeutics. (BfB Labs Survey Oct 2020)
