‘We are the town that has been forgotten about’: Solution to our youth mental health crisis is close to home

Here’s what I found out:

• Children and young people are fed up of short term interventions, they often spend longer on a waiting list than they do actually receiving support.

• Parents want to be seen as equal partners by health, social care and education; but often they feel as if they are being blamed for their child’s mental health support needs.

• They want to come together and support each other and most importantly they want people to do what they said they would do and keep their promises.

• They want support where they live.

• Covid had a massive impact on our children’s mental health and the world is very different for families since the pandemic, with the loss of what they knew and trusted.

• And what people REALLY wanted? It’s not rocket science! They want to be seen and heard

My new report entitled Children and Young People’s Mental Health in Rural North Craven has highlighted the need for a new approach which focuses on the strengths and abilities of the people in our rural towns and villages. 

In particular, short-term interventions without a clear exit strategy were criticised by parents and children alike, with one young person saying: “If I get help it’s only for a few weeks but I’ve had these problems for years and they aren’t going to go away after I’ve finished the programme”. 

An alarming number of children and young people who experience mental health problems aren’t getting the help they need, with some children in young people who live in the countryside making 80 mile round-trips to receive mental health support. 

This comes at a time when social workers are seeing record numbers of children with mental health problems, an increase of more than 50 per cent in five years, latest local government figures show.

The report, prepared for the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, has identified a lack of accessible mental health services in rural North Craven. This need can’t simply be addressed through more NHS or Local Authority staff, as more services are just not viable for such a sparse population. 

When my daughter was eight years old she started to show signs of emotional distress, both at school and at home.

She is 17 now and thriving. Her mental health is good because of the support she’s had over the years; but if her journey has taught me anything it is this: that children’s emotional well-being is just as important as their physical health.

Many children and young people who live in rural areas like the Yorkshire Dales will only be offered a mental health service if they can travel, or the alternative is to receive support over the phone or on a video call, whereas a child who lives in a town like Harrogate or Keighley will be offered a face-to-face service close to where they live.

The main finding of the report was that we need to look at strengthening community support through building peer support networks for not only children and young people, but their parents and the professionals who work to support this. 

The protective factor of having networks of support including family and friends was also significantly diminished for children and young people experiencing mental health support needs and their families.

Parents said they had moved to the countryside ‘for a better life’, but then found they could not access the additional support their child needed with their mental health later down the line, and they also didn’t have local support networks.  

As a result of this piece of work SELFA has been successful in our application to charitable trust to set up peer support groups for children and young people who are experiencing mental health issues and their parents/carers. These projects will start in early 2023. The new research report has helped to secure an £85,000 funding boost for children’s mental health support in the Yorkshire Dales. 

There will also be an annual face-to-face mental health event, where young people with lived experience of mental health issues come together with professionals in education, health, social care and the voluntary sector. 

The research is part of The Health Equity Fellowship Programme, part of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Health Inequalities Academy. The fellowship programme seeks to develop colleagues across West Yorkshire who understand the foundations of health inequity and have the knowledge, skills, and courage to build more equitable organisations and communities. 

You can read the full report and find out about our exciting new projects that focus on bringing people together to focus on what’s STRONG and not what’s WRONG in our rural communities: Children and Young People’s Mental Health in Rural North Craven

Emma Pears is the founder and chief executive of SELFA children's charity based in the Yorkshire Dales and is well-known for her campaigning on children and young people’s mental health. Follow her on Twitter @SELFA_Emma