Young People and Mental Health Healthwatch …...27.07.2015 1 Young People and Mental Health – Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Community Intelligence Bursary Report 2015 Project Brief

Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015

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Young People and Mental Health – Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Community Intelligence Bursary Report 2015

Project Brief Leaders in Community (LiC) Consultancy CIC have been established for 6 years and provide organisations pan London with an unrivalled insight into youth participation and empowerment. We are a youth-led social enterprise that carries out research at a grass roots level to help choose the best strategy for our partners. We are passionate about creating avenues for young people to drive social change in their environment. Our aim is “To inspire and empower a generation of young leaders to influence positive change within local communities and organisations”. To this end, in partnership with Healthwatch Tower Hamlets, LiC helped to create and manage the Healthwatch Youth Panel. The panel’s role is to be the voice of local young people in LBTH and represent/raise awareness on a strategic level, the health related concerns expressed by their peers. In early 2014, Healthwatch conducted a Borough wide research to identify the needs and opinions of young people regarding health related services within LBTH. The Youth Panel were then presented with these findings and asked in their capacity as representatives of other young people to group and prioritise key themes and issues. One of the key issues that emerged from the research analysis was a need to address the lack of awareness/projects regarding mental health and young people in LBTH. Earlier this year, Healthwatch Tower Hamlets undertook desk based research with the aid of Queen Mary University Post-Graduates and presented this research to the panel so that a decision could be made on whether or not the Youth Panel wanted to create a ‘young people & mental health’ campaign/project for 2015/16. Please refer to Appendix ‘A’ for full details of the desk-based research.


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The Youth Panel wished to create a project/social action awareness campaign to raise the profile of mental health issues affecting young people. In order to do this, LiC applied for the Community Intelligence Bursary (CIB), from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to undertake grassroots fieldwork research that will enable the Panel to make informed decisions as to what their next steps should be. We know from past outreach/surveys conducted amongst young people in LBTH that mental health is a priority area that needs to be explored in creative ways in order to raise its profile. LiC have met with LBTH Young Mayor’s team in 2015 and had positive discussions on possible collaborative work on a joint mental health awareness campaign between the Youth Panel and the LBTH Youth Council once our research is complete. In summary, the aim of the work conducted through the CIB is to conduct mass surveys amongst young people at a grass roots level to better understand young peoples’ awareness levels and attitudes towards mental health, as well as receiving suggestions on how best to tackle issues related to young people and mental health. Healthwatch Youth Panelists will receive training through the CIB process in order to become Peer Researchers and undertake the fieldwork research. After the CIB is concluded, the Youth Panel, Healthwatch and LiC will seek to start a young peoples’ mental health project/campaign based on the findings of our research. Below is an outline of the activities and milestones of the CIB process to be undertaken by LiC, Healthwatch and the Peer Researchers: Fig 1.0

When

Proposed Actions

Milestone Tasks & Outcomes

Milestone

Completion Date

Person (s)

Responsible

08th June

Training workshops hosted by London Citizens for Peer Researchers

Training Peer Researchers

24th June 1. Yasmin (London citizens)

2. LiC 3. Peer

researchers

24th June

Meeting with Peer Researchers from HWTH Youth Panel

1. Get feedback 2. Pilot the survey

24th June 1.LiC


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Methodology

4 out of the 11 Healthwatch youth Panellists were chosen to become CIB Peer Researchers based on their past experiences and

performance.

2. Peer researchers x4

25thJune Undertaking Fieldwork via surveys 1. Put together a outreach calendar for fieldwork

2. To survey 100-150 young people across the borough

12th July 1.LiC 2. Peer researchers x4

13th July Analysing fieldwork data 1. Analysis of data with key themes/ messages

2. Create presentation on data

22nd July 1.LiC

23rd July Submit end of project report / Present data to Youth Panel

1. Organise meeting on either date or supply new date

2. Gather panels feedback 3. Actions on next steps 4. Impact (what they want to achieve with

information)

30th July 1.LiC

06th August

Youth Panel meet to plan the next steps of project.

1. Decide on how to promote public health information/ message to other young people.

20th August 1.LiC Rest of tasks to be allocated after discussions Youth Panel, QMUL Volunteers, LiC, Shamsur, other stakeholders


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The logic adopted by LiC is that trained young people are the best people to approach and illicit honest responses from other young

people, particularly on sensitive issues such as mental health.

Young people have greater access to their peers so could collate large quantities of quality surveys (after receiving training) in the short

time frame that was given for this project.

Healthwatch and LiC met with the Youth Panel and held a focus group to determine the aims, wording and questions / style of the

survey that was used for the CIB.

Please see Appendix ‘B’ and Appendix ‘C’ for full details of the finalised survey and training received by Peer Researchers from London

Citizens in order to conduct the fieldwork required for the CIB.

After completing their training, each Peer Researcher’s first 5 completed surveys were quality assessed by LiC before they were given

the approval to conduct the rest of their surveys.

Each of the 4 Peer Researchers were given a target to conduct 50 surveys amongst peers across LBTH.

Findings

A total of 237 young people across LBTH aged between 15

and 24 years old took part in the CIB ‘Young People & Mental

Health Survey 2015’.

There is a slight under representation of young people aged

between 20-23 years of age due to the ages of the Peer

Researchers being predominantly in their teens with the

exception of one of the Peer Researchers.

The gender of those surveyed is approximately 2/3 Male and

1/3 Female, with just over 2/3 being Asian or Asian British and

almost 2/3 of the total number of young people being

surveyed were still in education.

25 2821

29 27

1419 16 20

35

3

11%12%

9%

12%11%

6%

8%7%

8%

15%

1%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Nu

mb

er

of

pa

rtic

ipa

nts

Age of respondants

fig 1.1 Age of the survey participants


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The breakdown of the profile of those that were surveyed for

the CIB is not wholly representative of the young people that

live in Tower Hamlets. This is due to the limited number of

Peer Researchers, the peers they each had access to and the

limited time frame in which to conduct the surveys.

Female29%

Male68%

Prefer not to say3%

fig 1.2 Gender of the survey participants

Black or Black

British7%

Brazilian0%

British Asian68%

Mixed Heritage3%

Refuse to say2%

White or White British

20%

fig 1.3 Ethnicity Breakdown

64%5%

26%

4%

1%

fig 1.4 Status of the young people surveyed

In Education

Apprenticeship

Work

NEET

Did not say


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no44%

yes56%

fig 1.5 Is mental health important to you?

29

74

2

40

88

4

Female Male Prefer not to say

fig 1.6 Is mental health important to you?

yes

no

0

5

10

15

20

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuse to say

Nu

mb

er

of

resp

on

da

nts

Age of survey particpant

fig 1.7 Is Mental Health important to you?

Female no Female yes Male no Male yes Prefer not to say no Prefer not to say yes


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*’Prefer not to say’ refers to respondents that did not wish to disclose their gender.

Fig 1.5, 1.6 & 1.7: The research highlights that young people

between the ages of 15-24yrs were pretty evenly split in how

they felt about mental health.

Interestingly, fig 1.7 shows that more males aged 20-24yrs did

not see mental health as an important issue to them as a pose

to males aged 15-19yrs.

Female survey participants showed the opposite trend, with

more teenage girls not feeling mental health was an

important issue to them and this attitude reversing in woman

aged 20+.

Next, we can explore why people stated either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’

in fig1.5. It’s clear to see that a key factor in peoples’

opinions on how they felt about mental health was driven

by personal experience/encounters, or the lack thereof.

Below are quotes from respondents to provide examples of how

those that answered ‘yes/no, mental health is/isn’t important to

me’ were grouped in fig 1.8 & fig 1.9;

‘Awareness’ – “Mental Health is an issue that is not made

aware to the public as much as it should be and I think it is

important to know what to do and where to go when you or

someone you know seems to be in a state of bad mental

health, which also means there needs to be awareness

about symptoms as well as being regarded as an important

cause for concern in the medical community. It should be

23%

54%

23%

fig 1.8 Yes, mental health is important to me because...

Awareness

Personal

Well being

25%

58%

16%1%

fig 1.9 No, mental health is not important to me because...

Don’t know

Not affected

Not important

other


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made as such that people know where to go to get help and

be given advice as proper they would receive for any other

medical issue.”

‘Personal’ – “My grandmother suffers from one form of mental health issue which is depression and one of my friends had previously been in

depression, so it's quite close and meaningful to me. It is also significant to me because I want to be able to help my friends and family if a situation

arises in the future and the fact that Mental Health is something which is under-addressed worldwide even though it plays a major part in

everyone's wellbeing.

‘Well being’ – “I believe mental health improves the quality of life in a person by supporting and strengthening our well-being. It allows us to

compose ourselves in extreme situations whether it be good or bad. This it is of the utmost importance that we maintain a good mental health and

positive outlook.”

‘Don’t know’ – “I don't really know what mental health is about.”

‘Not affected’ – “I'm not exactly sure what it entails and I don't suffer from mental problems or know anyone who does.”

‘Not important’ – “Its not at the top of my head at the moment. I'm thinking more about trying to find a Job after university and paying

my bills on time. I understand mental health is a rising issue but at the moment it’s not an important issue for me.”


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An important fact that needed to be ascertained was whether

or not young people actually knew what mental health was.

As can be seen in fig 2.0, 1/3 of those surveyed stated that

they didn’t really understand what was meant by the term

mental health.

Fig 2.1 shows that 15 year old school leavers were the highest

number of young people surveyed that felt they did not know

what mental health was.

no34%

yes66%

fig 2.0 Do you know what Mental Health is?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuse to say

Age of the respondant

fig 2.1 Do you know what Mental Health is?

no

yes


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For those that answered “‘yes’, I do know what mental health is”, their responses were grouped to show their level of understanding

and awareness of mental health. Please see quotes below to illustrate examples of grouped responses as well as fig 2.2 below.

‘Awareness restricted to specific mental health issues known to the respondent’ – “Dementia, OCD, Bipolar, Depression”.

‘Comprehensive understanding – Mental health (MH) affects and impacts the well being of an individual, examples provided on how a

MH sufferer may feel day-to-day’ – “Mental Health to me is when people suffer from certain conditions which stop them from doing

everyday duties accordingly and happily. One example which I have mentioned earlier is depression, a lot of people undergo

depression but are oblivious to it and sometimes this depression can lead to suicidal tendencies. Mental health can happen to

people of all ages and affects everyone, with each individual case differing to another and therefore we must understand ways to

handle all cases in a variety of ways.”

‘General awareness, limited context, possibly misinformed on some areas of mental health’ – “I don't know much about it but I do

know that depression comes under mental health. Also I think brain damage can be a form of mental health issue.”

Do you know what 'Mental Health' is? yes

Grouped responses

Level of awareness of Mental Health from people that answered 'yes'

Percentage of total 'yes' responses

Awareness restricted to specific mental health issues known to the respondent 93 60%

Comprehensive understanding - MH affects and impacts the well being of an individual, examples provided on how a MH sufferer may feel day-to-day 27 17%

General awareness, limited context, possibly misinformed on some areas of mental health 34 22%

#N/A 2 1%

Grand Total 156 100%


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Below, fig 2.2 Above, fig 2.2 shows that the vast majority of young people

that stated they knew what mental health was, still needed

further educating to raise their understanding of the full

scope of mental health. The definition used in this report is

taken from the World Health Organisation (WHO) website

which define mental health as being the following: “Mental

health is defined as a state of well-being in which

every individual realizes his or her own potential, can

cope with the normal stresses of life, can work

productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a

contribution to her or his community.”

To the right, fig 2.3 shows that most young people surveyed

were aware of ‘Depression’ (90% of all people surveyed), over

2/3 were aware of OCD and Self harming whilst not as many

young people were aware of Bipolar disorder and Autism &

Asperger’s. Less that 1/3 of young people surveyed knew

what ‘Psychosis’ was.

When asked what they felt contributed to mental health

developing in young people, fig 2.4 shows a fairly even split

between exams, bullying, peer pressure, relationships and

work being contributing factors. Interestingly, 21% of young

people thought that ‘Family/home environment’ was the

biggest likely factor in causing someone to experience

mental health issues.

17%

15%

13%21%

13%

11%

2%4% 4%

fig 2.4 What do you think could trigger or lead to Mental Health issues in young people?

Bullying

Exams

Relationship

Family

Peer

Work

Abuse

Genetic

Stress/external pressure

128

134

213

182

175

71

54%

57%

90%

77%

74%

30%

0 50 100 150 200 250

Autism & Asperger's

Bipolar disorder

Depression

OCD

Self harm

Psychosis

Number of respondants

2.3 Are you aware of the following conditions?


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Below, fig 2.7 shows an almost 50/50 split for both male and

females when asked if they would know where to access

support for mental health should they, or someone they knew

experienced it.

Fig 2.7 shows that the majority of males that stated they

would not know where to access help where aged 15 and 16

whilst young females asked the same question responded

consistently irrespective of their age.

0

5

10

15

20

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuseto say

fig 2.5 If you (or family or friends) experience mental health issues would you know where to get help or

support? Answered: 'YES'


0

5

10

15

20

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuseto say

Age of the respondants


support? Answered: 'No'


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


Nu

mb

er

of

resp

on

da

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support? Answered: 'YES'

no

yes

(blank)


13

57

16

20

8

25

192

159

20

24%

7%

8%

3%

11%

81%

67%

8%

0 50 100 150 200 250

Lifeline

Step Forward

MIND

Docklands Outreach

CAMHS

GP Surgery

A&E

Have not heard of any mentioned…


fig 2.9 Have you heard of these local services?

932328

16117

68

54

39%10%

12%68%

7%3%3%

23%

0 50 100 150 200

Talk to FrankYoung Minds

Mental Health FoundationChildline

Time to ChangeRelate (the relationship people)

Rethink mental illnessHave not heard of any of the mentioned…


fig 3.0 Have you heard of these national services

Before being told of any services, the young people were

asked where they would seek support with mental health

based on their current knowledge. Fig 2.8 shows that the

overwhelming majority said they would visit their GP whilst a

9% of respondents said they would look up their symptoms

online and a similar amount said they will either go to the

hospital (A&E) or speak to someone at school/college.

Fig 2.9 and fig 3.0 asked young people which local and

national mental health services they were aware of.

Unsurprisingly, most respondents knew of the GP Surgery and

hospital. In regards to national support services, Childline and

Talk to Frank were the most recognised by young people

whilst 23% of respondents had not heard of any of the

national support services mentioned in the question.

62%

2%

2%

0%

7%

3%

8%

9%

2% 1%0% 1% 2%

1%

fig 2.8 Where would you go to look for support if you or someone you knew experienced mental health issues?

GP

CAMHS

Lifeline

Samiritans

School

NHS

HOSPITAL

Internet

Religion

Work

Community Centre


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When young people were asked where they thought was the

best place to access advice and support in dealing with mental

health issues, fig 3.1 shows that opinions were fairly evenly

split with the majority opting for ‘Online support’, ‘GP’ and

‘School’ and just as many were unable to pick one option and

opted for multiple supported services.

However, when the responses were examined further, fig 3.2

shows a very different picture. Many young people aged between

15-16 years felt that the GP or school was the best place to receive

help, a lot of 17 year olds couldn’t decide which was the best option

and just as intriguingly, young people aged 19-24 years old felt that

the internet (websites and applications) were the best place to

receive advice and support.

19%

20%

27%

5%

18%

11%

3.1 Where is the best place for young people to receive support for Mental Health?

GP

Multiple options chosen

Online (website/app)

Pharmacy

School/College/University

Youth Clubs

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuse tosay


3.2 Where is the place for young people with mental health to go to receive support?

GP

Multiple options chosen

Online (website/app)

Pharmacy

School/College/University

Youth Clubs


15

2%

41%

21%1%

10%

5%

16%

3% 1%

fig 3.2 What might stop you from accessing support if you experienced Mental Health?

Unaware of having mental health

Stigma

Don't know where to receive support

Mistrust of authorities

In Denial

No barriers, N/A

Adverse Reactions from loved ones

Not wanting to 'burden others'

other

Fig 3.2 and fig 3.3 show some of the concerns

raised by young people were that the biggest

factor that may deter them from seeking

support after experiencing mental health

issues was the stigma (41%) attached to

mental health illnesses, and fearing the

possible adverse reaction of their loved ones

(16%) if they were to discuss mental health

issues with them.

21% of those surveyed stated that simply not

knowing where to receive support would be a

barrier for them in trying to access help.

Fig 3.3 If you were to experience mental health issues, what potentially barriers might stop you from receiving help & support?

Unaware of having mental health Stigma

Don't know where to receive support

Mistrust of authorities In Denial

No barriers, N/A

Adverse Reactions from loved

ones

Not wanting to 'burden’

others' other TOTALS

Being unaware that you

have mental health issues

Perceptions of others in

society

Not knowing where to get help

Mistrust of people who

can help you and

being scared of

the medication

that will need to be

taken

Being in denial about

having mental health issues

There are no barriers to getting

help

Being worried about

reactions from friends and family

Deal with things

alone, not wanting pity or to worry

others

Other reasons

given

7 119 60 4 28 14 45 10 2 Number of responses

2% 41% 21% 1% 10% 5% 16% 3% 1% Percentage of total


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32 30

95

34

0

20

40

60

80

100

Drama workshopsdelivered byyoung people

Leaflets Short film madeby young people

Website

Nu

mb

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of

resp

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da

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fig 3.4 Which is the best way to raise awareness of Mental Health amongst young people? (1st choice

answer)

0

5

10

15

20

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuse to say

Nu

mb

er

of

resp

on

da

nts


fig 3.5 What is the best platform to raise awareness of mental health to young people?

Drama workshops delivered by young people Leaflets Short film made by young people Website

The final part of the survey asked young people what they felt

would be the best platform to promote and raise awareness

of mental health affecting young people. Fig 3.4 and fig 3.5

show that across all ages of those surveyed, an overwhelming

majority felt that a short film made by young people would be

the best course of action moving forward (40% of total

respondents). The other 3 options given to young people

came in at a distant 2nd, 3rd and 4th place.

The findings are in line with the past experiences of the

Healthwatch youth panel, which enjoyed a successful social action

campaign in 2014/15 when they made a short film for young

people on the harmful effects of smoking shisha. Responses to the

film by peers have been extremely positive so it stands to reason

that a similar outcome could be achieved for a young people and

mental health awareness campaign.


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Recommendations

Promote to young people the need to care for their mental as well as their physical wellbeing

Work with schools as an access point to empower parents and families to promote good wellbeing for young people.

Involve children and young people in co-producing a peer led health and wellbeing campaign to: – raise awareness of the importance of looking after your physical and mental health. – tackle the stigma around mental health. – tackle issues like exam pressure, bullying and family pressures. – build on existing resources and activities in other areas.

Next Steps

Healthwatch and LiC to train more Peer Researchers from the Healthwatch youth Panel.

Healthwatch (incl. Youth Panel) and LiC to work in partnership with other participants of CIB (where practical to do so) and London

Citizens to pool knowledge/resources.

The Healthwatch Youth Panel to plan and launch a social action campaign to raise awareness of mental health issues amongst young

people via the creation and promotion of short film that incorporates the findings of the CIB.

Before launching the social action campaign, the Youth Panel should conduct 3 more focus groups with a particular emphasis to

include groups young people that have been under represented in the CIB findings, such as young women and young people from

White or White British, Black or Black British backgrounds.

The findings of the CIB to be presented to the whole Youth Panel at a strategy away day after the focus groups have been concluded

and the focus group results analysed.

The Youth Panel to meet with service heads from bodies such as the CCG, CAMHS and Public Health LBTH to discuss possible

collaborative work as well as offer the services of the Peer Researchers to assist with on-going/external projects.

LiC to liaise with Youth Services LBTH/Young Mayor’s Team LBTH to work collaboratively on the next steps of the Mental Health

awareness campaign to ensure a wide an audience as possible is reached.

Documents

Young People and Mental Health Healthwatch …...27.07.2015 1 Young People and Mental Health – Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Community Intelligence Bursary Report 2015 Project Brief