Health Management and Policy Alert

Mental health and the cost-of-living crisis report: another pandemic in the making?

Mental Health Foundation (MHF) - 

This policy briefing paper provides an overview of the current and likely effects of the so-called ‘cost-of living crisis’ on mental health. It sets out MHF's evidence-based recommendations for governments across the UK to tackle the mental health impacts of the cost-of-living crisis. The paper emphasises that the priority must be to ensure suitable financial support schemes are available to all who need them to prevent people from experiencing poverty, financial stress and related mental health problems. The paper also stresses that the income support announced to date does not go far enough to meet the needs of low-income people who continue to go without essentials such as food and heating.

• Briefing paper
• Press release

Get in on the Act: Mental Health Act 2022

Local Government Association -
In June 2022 the government published the draft Mental Health Bill. The Bill is currently going through parliament and is at the Joint Committee Inquiry stage. Councils have several existing statutory duties under the Mental Health Act 1983 and will continue to have responsibilities under the new Act. This briefing examines the role and responsibilities of Councils under the new Act.

• Local Government Association - publications

Connected: remote technology in mental health services

Centre for Mental Health - 

This briefing summarises evidence from six studies on the use of digital and telephone technology to deliver mental health services. It finds that using remote technology can improve access to mental health support for rural communities, disabled people or people needing a specialist service far from home. It has the potential to increase access and choice in mental health care. But it also risks exacerbating inequalities for people who are digitally excluded.

• Briefing
• More detail

No wrong door

NHS Confederation -
The NHS Confederation and Centre for Mental Health wrote this Parliamentary briefing to identify a vision for mental health, autism and learning disability services for people of all ages in England in 2032. It describes how these services need changes to the way they are delivered to meet demand, and that mental health service providers can’t do this alone. The briefing sets out how investment is needed from government and calls for the cross-government plan for mental health to be published and resourced without delay.

• Briefing
• NHS Confederation - publications

Mental health and wellbeing

Covid Social Mobility & Opportunities Study -
Poor mental health among young people (aged 16 and 17) has increased by more than a quarter since 2017, according to this research. This briefing explores the mental health and wellbeing of a sample of almost 13,000 young people across England who were in Year 11 in 2021. It finds that almost half (44 per cent) of young people were above the threshold for ‘probable mental ill health’, using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), indicating high levels of psychological distress. This has increased dramatically from 35 per cent in 2017 and 23 per cent in 2007 (from previous cohort studies looking at similar ages), pointing to a decline in the mental health and wellbeing of young people, likely accelerated by the pandemic.

• Briefing
• Covid Social Mobility & Opportunities Study - press release

Scoping digital support for children and young people’s mental health

Oxford Academic Health Science Network -
To help increase capacity and achieve better outcomes in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) at a time of rising demand, the NHS has recognised it needs help to identify and harness the best of the ever-expanding array of digital innovations – from assessment through therapeutic interventions to ongoing support and prevention. This report identifies potential digital solutions to support NHS mental health services for children and young people. The audit of 24 digital tools and solutions covered current usage, interoperability, user experience and cost, and fit with NHS strategic priorities.

• Report
• Oxford Academic Health Science Network - news

Support for vulnerable adolescents

National Audit Office - 

Because of the potential costs to adolescents and society arising from serious adverse outcomes, this report examines the information government uses to understand these issues and how well government bodies are working together to plan and deliver support to vulnerable adolescents who are at serious risk of avoidable adverse outcomes. The report sets out evidence on the complexity of challenges facing vulnerable adolescents, the cumulative impact of adverse outcomes for adolescents and society, and the challenges for government to provide effective support and deliver value for money.

• Report
• More detail

Anxiety nation?: economic insecurity and mental distress in 2020s Britain

Joseph Rowntree Foundation -
Amid rocketing rates of diagnosis for anxiety, and with 7.3 million English adults already having received antidepressants by 2017-18, this report establishes many connections between financial insecurity and poor mental health. It calls for more to be done to protect those millions of Britons, and not just those on the very lowest incomes, at a time of increasing prices and interest rates.

• Report
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation - press release

Supporting children and young people with mental health needs in acute paediatric settings

NHS England -
Over the past decade, there has been increasing need for mental health services to support children and young people. The pandemic resulted in a greater number of children and young people presenting with mental health disorders, often with complex needs requiring care or medical stabilisation, within a paediatric or acute setting. This framework commits to ensuring children and young people, and those who look after them, are supported.

• Framework
• NHS England - publications

Hidden in plain sight

Commission on Young Lives - 

The final report from the Commission on Young Lives proposes a new 'Sure Start Plus for Teenagers' network of intervention and support as the centrepiece of a wide range of recommendations to government, the police, schools, and others to tackle the deep-rooted problems in the children's social care, education, family support, children's mental health, and criminal justice systems.

• Report
• Press release