Children & Young People's Mental Health Network
The NIHR ARC Northwest London’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health Network brings researchers, practitioners, health professionals, charities, local authorities and members of the public who live or work in Northwest London together to help shape and share research and to provide opportunities to collaborate on Children and Young People’s (CYP) mental health initiatives.
In the autumn of 2021, we were successful in a competitive bid, worth £750k of funds from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), to build capacity and capabilities in Northwest London to undertake mental health research. This funding is initially for work taking place between November 2021 and September 2024.
The Northwest London boroughs are Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington Chelsea and Westminster.
What is the aim of this network?
The network is a collaborative of organisations and individuals across the eight London authorities in Northwest London established to ensure that:
mental health research addresses the changing needs of children and young people in the area
research findings are implemented and inform how resource decisions are made
We aim to deliver a series of network events and activities to help inform and shape children and young people’s mental health research priorities for our local population.
Why is it important?
Northwest London has a high mental health burden compared to other areas in England with some boroughs experiencing high death rates among adults because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has a direct impact on children and young people’s mental health.
Northwest London has a strong record in adult mental health research. However, this is not the case for children and young people, with the current capacity for community mental health research within the area and in ARC NWL requiring investment and support to meet the need and achieve parity with other comparable networks.
What do we hope to achieve?
Our aim is to improve the mental health and wellbeing and to reduce health inequalities among children and young people in Northwest London. We want to achieve this through research, understanding the gaps in our current knowledge, sharing what works, and how research findings are implemented locally. We want to bring together children and young people, communities, the NHS, and academic institutions at every stage.
Current Projects
Our Young People’s Advisory Group is helping to promote the involvement of children and young people at every stage of our research. Including planning and delivering relevant activities, identifying research priorities and co-developing research and how information and research findings are disseminated.
Data Infrastructure Project
Working with our collaborative network, we will build on existing informatics capability to identify and prioritise children and young people in Northwest London for whom intervention and preventative support are indicated.
School's Mental Health Needs Assessment
We are working to assist Northwest London schools access the right support, evidence based interventions and resources to improve mental health care for children, young people and their families.
Who should join the Network?
The Network is open for anyone with a vested interest in the mental health of children and young people in Northwest London (NWL), including:
Children and young people (CYP) living, working or attending school, further education or higher education in NWL (age 14-25)
Parents and carers of CYP in NWL
Members of the public living or working in NWL
Public health practitioners
Local authority staff (e.g. local government public health teams)
Third sector (e.g. youth organisations, charity, or commercial sector staff)
Policy makers (e.g. policy and strategy staff in central or local government) or Think tanks
Researchers
How to join
Register here to join the network.
You can request to be removed from the network at any time by contacting: arccypmh@imperial.ac.uk
Privacy notice for network registration
Personal data submitted through this form are collected by Imperial College London. The purpose of collecting these data, including names, email addresses and registration information, is to inform and manage communications for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) ARC NWL Children and Young People’s Mental Health Network which is managed by Imperial College London.
The NIHR ARC NWL is funded by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and data submitted through this form will be shared with the NIHR for funding management purposes.
The NIHR privacy policy includes further information including ways in which NIHR may use your data, NIHR contact details, and details on your individual rights regarding how your data are used. Your data will not be used for purposes other than that set out in this notice and not retained for any other purpose. If at any point you would like this information to be removed please contact arccypmh@imperial.ac.uk. The NIHR may retain information collected in this form under public interest.
For enquiries about the Network please email: arccypmh@imperial.ac.uk