Your child’s mental health is important to us

This may not strike us at first, but children have a lot going on in their lives, apart from battling with identities, friendships and belonging. And for the latest generation – Generation Covid – things are even tougher.
In the last three years alone, the likelihood of children and young people experiencing mental health problems has gone up by 50%. Now, at least 5 children out of 30 in a classroom are likely to experience mental health issues.

More disturbingly, 75% of children and young people with mental health problems do not have access to the help they so direly need; unfortunately, 34% of those getting referred to NHS are not accepted into treatment programmes.

Far too many schools focus on academic grades mostly and the fact that the vast majority of school staff are untrained to identify children with mental health concerns, further exacerbates the problem. As a result, these young minds continue to suffer in silence, but this is where Aiding Minds come to the rescue – playing an active role in identifying these vulnerable children before they hit crisis point.

Don’t let your child get stuck in a loop where they are forced to cope with mental health problems! Aiding Minds works collaboratively with schools all over the UK to help identify children suffering from mental health problems and extends the help they need before things get worse.

Schools identify children when it is to late which only results in a long waiting time at CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) before a child is seen or appropriate support is put in place. ACMH receives many calls on an almost daily basis from parents complaining how their kids are struggling to be successful at school or even stay in school due to ignored or unaddressed mental health concerns.

Addressing these concerns is critically important as 1 in 5 children have a emotional, behavioral or mental health disorder which can be diagnosed and reversed almost completely; 1 in 10 children face a mental health challenge that’s severe enough to impair how they perform not just at school but also at home and in their community.

Many reports have shown that even though mental health problems affect so many UK kids between 6 and 17, at least 80% of them do not receive the help and mental health care they so direly need.

We work with a variety of schools across the nation to identify students with mental health concerns, supporting them to put specific interventions in place to make a positive change. This helps school children get back on track and ensures that their future mental wellbeing is no longer at stake.
FOI data published in 2018 showed that hundreds of children must wait at least a year or more for CAMHS treatment. In fact, between 2017 and 2018, over 500 children requiring Tier 3 CAMHS had to wait more than a year to begin treatment; 50% of the 11,482 children who needed treatment waited over 18 weeks after their initial assessment. Sadly, only a small 14% began treatment in a month.

The same report found that among children waiting for their initial assessment, only 30% were assessed in a month after referral – 4,309 had to wait over 18 weeks and 992 waited over a year.
Aiding Minds exists today to ensure none of that ever happens to your child. We’re here to help schools take prompt action and start helping children who are showing even minor signs of mental health problems.

How does it work?

Our expansive assessment tool helps detect any social, behavioural and mental difficulties children may be experiencing at school but are afraid to talk about it.

Once school has made contact via email and agreed to take part in the 3-wave process, our team will work with a designated lead assigned from the school, with the work beginning with Wave 1, where all students are assessed. A link is then sent which is shared with all the students to complete.

Through this early identification and assessment, we can understand the mental health concerns young school pupils are facing, but are just too afraid to talk about it or even recognise it as a mental health concern, as they are still so young and psychologically fragile.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the individual stages or waves:

Wave 1 – Complete assessment and data analysis
The initial assessment covers broad areas around the students’ mental health, assessing the areas where they may be externalising or internalising certain behavioural problems – such as conduct problems and hyperactivity or emotional symptoms and peer communication problems. This early assessment also helps us determine how they are performing in terms of pro-social behaviours, emotional resilience including school and peer relationships as well as overall wellbeing.
Children who are identified or show concern in Wave 1 will be requested to take part in Wave 2; a list of the students’ names will be passed to the designated school’s Mental Health lead, along with a link to complete the wave 2 assessment.

Wave 2 – Second assessment and interventions considerations
This is a more in-depth assessment, focusing on other aspects of mental health and wellbeing. Pupils are assessed for a variety of behavioural disorders, including generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), separation anxiety, OCD including compulsive and/or repulsive behaviour, depression and mood swings, eating disorders, social phobias, etc.

The data for these pupils once analysed will be sent back to the designated lead at the school who will then put interventions in place. These interventions will need to be completed between 6 to 8 weeks.

Wave 3 – Reassessment, analysis and interventions implementation
Once the entire cycle of assessments and interventions have been completed for the affected students, the school will then request a link for wave 3 which is reassessing those identified in wave 2 and to measure the impact of the interventions. This ensures that they stay on track and continue to make consistent improvements over time.

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