PHE LAUNCHES NEW MENTAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR PARENTS

Most families have experienced upheaval in their daily lives during the pandemic. With children and young people now back at school or college, PHE’s new campaign provides NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing, and equip parents and carers with the knowledge to support them.

Research reveals that the coronavirus outbreak has caused an increase in anxiety in young people, and more than a third of children report being more worried, sad and stressed than before lockdown.

New PHE survey data found that two thirds of parents surveyed say their children’s behaviour has changed since the start of the pandemic (69%) and, when asked their top three worries around coronavirus, over half (52%) said the mental wellbeing of their children topped the list of their biggest worries.

The advice available on the Better Health - Every Mind Matters website has been developed in partnership with leading children and young people’s mental health charities. It is designed to help parents and carers spot the signs that children may be struggling with their mental health and support them. In addition to the advice for parents and carers the site also provides tools to help young people build resilience and equips them to look after their mental wellbeing.

To engage parents and carers a powerful short film has been created featuring a range of celebrity parents including Davina McCall, Marvin Humes, Sean Fletcher, Katie Piper and Edith Bowman, reading extracts from best-selling author Charlie Mackesy’s well-known book, ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’.

The emotive extracts all touch upon mental health and aim to encourage parents to visit the Better Health - Every Mind Matters website.