Connecting children and young people digitally to improve mental health wellbeing

Challenge: During coronavirus, young people’s mental health services needed to move online; young people struggled to find the information they needed; and practitioners were concerned about safe online provision of services.

What we did: We worked in partnership with YMCA DownsLink Group to develop the e-wellbeing website, www.e-wellbeing.co.uk, for children up to the age of 18, and their families. We worked in partnership with children and young people to co-review the e-wellbeing platform, and co-produce and co-facilitate digital training with young people, e-wellbeing’s youth-ambassadors, and includes podcasts on embedding a trauma-informed approach, diversity and inclusion and use of different types of social media.

Impact: The e-wellbeing platform supported 15,000 young people in a year, with over 96% saying it helped them manage their problems, and it has since expanded to include users over 18. A review of digital mental health services across Sussex showed high demand and usefulness, especially during the pandemic, highlighting the need for more inclusive and streamlined digital solutions. Over 200 people attended the Digital Mental Health Communications Training launched in 2022 – 94% of attendees rated the training as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.