Children and Young People’s Mental Health: a Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care
The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) Report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health was published in 2003 and was well received. This was in large part due to the meticulous review process, which involved those working in the field of children and young people's mental health and wider children's services in the development of the recommendations. In addition, and importantly, the views of children and young people themselves shaped the final document.
The report made 10 broad recommendations. Some
have implications at a national level; some for
local strategic planning; and others for local practice.
The Framework is intended to support local practice
and should be used in an inter-agency way and within
the children's services planning context.
The SNAP report emphasised that all agencies and organisations have a role in supporting the mental health of children and young people. It highlighted the need to address the whole continuum of mental health - from mental health promotion, through preventing mental illness, to supporting, treating and caring for those children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties of all ranges of complexity and severity. It also suggested that mental health promotion should underpin all work with children and young people, even when they are mentally unwell and accessing specialist mental health services. This is a complex matrix which needs to take account of:
- The life stages of children and young people
- The settings/places where young people live their lives
- The range of people and organisations who come into contact with children and young people
- The continuum of mental health to mental ill-health
- Underlying principles such as inequalities, accessibility and participation
The Child Health Support Group (CHSG) and the Scottish Government have been working together to promote children and young people's mental health in Scotland, and ensure better delivery of mental health services for those who need them. A Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Development Group was established in 2002, to draw on the expertise of colleagues from NHS services, education, social work and the voluntary sector in taking this work forward. The major focus of the CAMH Development Group's work has been implementation of the recommendations made in the SNAP report, culminating in development of the Framework.
Following discussion with the Child Health Commissioners in August 2003, the CAMH Development Group (and actioned by HeadsUpScotland) agreed to develop a framework to assist local health, education and social work services in planning and delivering integrated approaches to children and young people's mental health across the continuum of promotion, prevention and care.
As part of the development process, over 200 delegates from a range of disciplines attended the Child Health Support Group SNAP into Action conference in March 2004. Working in small groups, participants considered roles and interventions in a range of scenarios, all of which had a mental health element. Around 30 young people were involved in the event after a SNAP follow-up event which had been arranged specifically for young people earlier in the month.
The Framework is the result, and expands on the Child Health Support Group's original Template for Child Health Services and the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland. It also contributes to delivery of the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan. The Framework is intended to be used by local agencies as a planning and audit tool, to identify goals and milestones for continuous improvement in the delivery of services and approaches to support and improve the mental health of children and young people in Scotland.
The consultation period closed on 25 March 2005 and the consultation responses were analysed. The comments have been incorporated into a final version of the Framework, launched at a conference on 24 October 2005.
Support for this process has been commissioned and is being provided by a partnership of the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health (SDC) and Young Minds.
