Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015 1 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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Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
1
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.
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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%
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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'
Female Male Prefer not to say
0
5
10
15
20
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Refuseto say
Age of the respondants
fig 2.6 If you (or family or friends) experience mental health issues would you know where to get help or
support? Answered: 'No'
Female Male Prefer not to say
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Female Male Prefer not to say
Nu
mb
er
of
resp
on
da
nts
fig 2.7 If you (or family or friends) experience mental health issues would you know where to get help or
support? Answered: 'YES'
no
yes
(blank)
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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…
Number of respondants
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…
Number of respondants
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
Age of the respondant
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
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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
er
of
resp
on
da
nts
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
Age of the respondant
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.
Leaders in Community Consultancy CIC 27.07.2015
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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.