Written Question · S2W-00590 · Session 2
What initiatives are in place to promote mental well-being of children and young people.
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives are in place to promote mental well-being of children and young people.
The answer
"Early years" was identified as one of the four major areas for a focussed approach to health improvement within Improving Health in Scotland
- The Challenge. The Starting Well Health Improvement demonstration project will promote and encourage mental health and well-being among young children. Evidence suggests that the best way to make a difference for children is to reach them in their early years. Accordingly we have made a significant commitment to our early intervention approaches such as Sure Start Scotland which involves local authorities and targets support at vulnerable and deprived families with very young children.Revised guidance on Children's Services Plans was issued in October 2001, making clear that the plans should set out how the local authority is providing services for all children but also how they are targeting services covering all children in need in their area. More specifically, the Changing Children's Services Fund, which aims to allow major re-configuration of services for children, has the provision of mental health services for children as one of its key priorities. Work resourced through the fund will impact directly on mental health services but, more generally, better integrated services which respond promptly and effectively to children in distress or in trouble are key to dealing with the complex problems that may eventually lead to mental health problems.One of the five key priority areas in the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being in Scotland is "early years and young adulthood". Children, especially looked-after children, are one of the priority groups within Choose Life: A National Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent Suicide in Scotland which was published in December 2002.The need for concerted efforts in relation to health promotion and the prevention of mental health problems was one of the conclusions in the report of the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) review of child and adolescent mental health, published in March 2003. The Child Health Support Group will work closely with NHS boards and their partners to ensure effective implementation of the report's recommendations; a stakeholder working group has been established to take this forward.
- The Challenge. The Starting Well Health Improvement demonstration project will promote and encourage mental health and well-being among young children. Evidence suggests that the best way to make a difference for children is to reach them in their early years. Accordingly we have made a significant commitment to our early intervention approaches such as Sure Start Scotland which involves local authorities and targets support at vulnerable and deprived families with very young children.Revised guidance on Children's Services Plans was issued in October 2001, making clear that the plans should set out how the local authority is providing services for all children but also how they are targeting services covering all children in need in their area. More specifically, the Changing Children's Services Fund, which aims to allow major re-configuration of services for children, has the provision of mental health services for children as one of its key priorities. Work resourced through the fund will impact directly on mental health services but, more generally, better integrated services which respond promptly and effectively to children in distress or in trouble are key to dealing with the complex problems that may eventually lead to mental health problems.One of the five key priority areas in the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being in Scotland is "early years and young adulthood". Children, especially looked-after children, are one of the priority groups within Choose Life: A National Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent Suicide in Scotland which was published in December 2002.The need for concerted efforts in relation to health promotion and the prevention of mental health problems was one of the conclusions in the report of the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) review of child and adolescent mental health, published in March 2003. The Child Health Support Group will work closely with NHS boards and their partners to ensure effective implementation of the report's recommendations; a stakeholder working group has been established to take this forward.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S2W-00590 by reference.