Trevor Lakey Health Improvement and Inequalities Manager, Mental Health Partnership

1. Child and Youth Mental Health Improvement Working GroupOverview of key dimensions for attentionWednesday 24th November 2010Mental Health Partnership, Gartnavel Royal Hospital Trevor Lakey Health Improvement and Inequalities Manager, Mental Health Partnership

2. Importance of children and young people in mental health strategy Infants, Children and Young People are priority groups within the Scottish Policy and Action Plan for Mental Health Improvement: Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland They are given high priority status also in our draft Strategic Framework for Greater Glasgow and Clyde: No Health Without Mental Health

3. Importance of this agenda…. “Left unresolved, mental health problems significantly affect children and young people’s social and educational development. This can have a profound and lasting negative impact into adult life in terms of employment, relationships, and the likelihood of disability.” Mental Health Foundation – Supporting Young People’s Mental Health

4. Shifting responsibility to the mainstream “Even with sustained investment, CAMHS services cannot be expected to bear responsibility for ensuring that all young people who need some form of support receive it… “There is a risk that universal services do not acknowledge that they are also Tier 1 CAMHS” “Place increased focus on prevention coupled with improved primary mental health care for all children and young people.” Mental Health Foundation – Supporting Young People’s Mental Health

5. Opportunities and Challenges Many excellent services & initiatives underway – BUT are they joined up, sustained over time, are they accessible and user friendly, do they provide help quick enough? How do we hear, learn and respond better from all that children, young people and families are telling us about mental health, such as support needs? Are we tuned into diverse needs? How do we promote mental health and wellbeing, prevent problems and intervene as early as possible when problems arise? How do we use and organise the resources we have to create better support opportunities and foster self help and resilience?

6. Key elements for attention Leadership Strategy Planning Structures Mental wellbeing initiatives and activities (Tier 0) Pre-5s and parenting Engagement with children, young people, families, communities Primary school age: 5-11 Early intervention services and initiatives (Tier 1) Secondary school age: 11-18 Priority needs – e.g. Looked After, Young Carers CAMHS (Tiers 2 and beyond)

7. Key elements for attention Leadership Strategy Planning Structures Needs analysis, equality and diversity dimensions Mental wellbeing initiatives and activities (Tier 0) Engagement with children, young people, families, communities Learning more about needs, positive resources & resilience factors, service use experiences Evidence base – what works and evaluating innovative approaches Early intervention services and initiatives (Tier 1) Resource dimensions, including skills development, investment, community assets CAMHS (Tiers 2 and beyond)

8. Key discussion questions For Tier 0 and Tier 1: How are we engaging with families, children and young people to understand needs and capabilities / resources? What other needs assessment processes are underway? What kinds of activity are underway, how comprehensive and coordinated are they in meeting needs? How stable and sustained is the investment underpinning this activity? How well connected to wider resources – e.g. cross-referral to ‘higher’ tiered services What are the elements of an effective set of supports and services for each tier that we should be working towards? How does the status quo compare (at each main age band) – i.e. what are the gaps and deficits; what are the opportunities to build on local provision to bridge these gaps?