Experts urge ministers to produce emotional health guidance for schools

A shift towards supporting children to understand emotional health from a young age could prevent NHS England spending £36.7bn on mental health services by 2040, finds the research by the Centre for Emotional Health and think tank Demos.

It argues that the government has “no effective plan to address the mental health and wellbeing challenges we are seeing in the UK”.

• Special report: Social, emotional and mental health needs

• How a specialist school supports the needs of SEMH pupils

Recent research from the Children’s Mental Health Coalition finds that an estimated three quarters of young people in need of support face delays getting help, which is worsening their mental health.

The Demos report recommends that DfE should “develop clear evidence-based guidance for schools and colleges on how best to implement learning about emotional health”.

It states that “efforts to implement emotional learning in schools and support children and young people to develop the emotional skills they need to protect their mental health are often undervalued and inconsistent”.

Peter Leonard, chief executive of the Centre for Emotional Health, told CYP Now that guidance should be co-produced with young people and would encourage schools to not only embed learning about emotional health within the curriculum but across school life as well.

“Schools and colleges know their pupils best and they are placed to deliver this but giving them that permission to do it, rather than just focus on academic subjects is really important,” he said.

It also calls for an increased evidence base on the casual link between emotional health and improved mental health outcomes.

Leonard also highlighted the role of early help services, young services and family support services in embedding a culture based on positive emotional health.

“Good emotional health is the foundation for a stable, responsible and functioning society. As well as helping to mitigate the suffering that mental health difficulties bring, developing good emotional health could save the government billions of pounds a year,” he added.

Alice Dawson, researcher at Demos and author of the report, said: “The government’s response to the mental health and wellbeing challenges we’re seeing in the UK has primarily been to increase spending on mental health care. While this is vital, we need a new approach to solve the problem in the long-term otherwise the demands we are seeing on NHS mental health services will only increase.

“Our report sets out how this can be achieved by taking an asset-based and relational approach that enables and promotes good emotional health. Such an approach can equip individuals, families and communities with the skills and resources they need to protect their mental health by building resilience, fostering healthy relationships and creating supportive environments.”

A recent poll by YouGov found that 70 per cent of people believe the government should invest in education and training to develop good emotional health.