Editorial: Mental health must be considered by all

As Professor Sue Bailey told delegates last week at Young People Now's Emotional Health and Wellbeing conference, young people are embedded in families and schools, while schools and families are embedded in neighbourhoods. With one in 10 five- to 15-year-olds in the UK having a mental health problem at any one time, according to the Office for National Statistics, it is vital that all organisations that deal with young people work together.

Parents and carers are key in helping young people with mental health problems. But when the youth service in Tower Hamlets tried to deal with young people and parents together in one project, it found that it was spending more resources on parents than young people and had to cut back. The approach may have benefited young people in the long term, but in the short term youth services have to prove they are benefiting the young people for whom they were set up. They can't spend scarce resources on parents. But working with other services could help.