The 'Evaluating the implementation of the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision Green Paper' project is a collaboration between the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the University of Birmingham, and the University of Cambridge. This project will explore the implementation and outcomes of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Implementation Programme.
Background
In 2017, the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision Green Paper set out a series of proposals for improving mental health prevention and early intervention for children and young people in England (Department of Health and Department for Education, 2017). The core green paper proposals were:
1. Incentivise every school and college to identify a Designated Senior Lead for Mental Health to oversee the approach to mental health and wellbeing.
2. Fund new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), supervised by NHS children and young people’s mental health staff, to provide specific extra capacity for early intervention and ongoing help.
3. Test a 4-week waiting time for access to specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services.
In 2018, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Implementation Programme was launched to implement the proposals outlined in the Green Paper. This project will explore the implementation and outcomes of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Implementation Programme, focused on improving mental health prevention and early intervention for children and young people in England.
Project Aims
The aim of this project is to explore how the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Implementation Programme has been implemented, its impacts, outcomes and costs for children and young people and their families, and different types of education settings and mental health services.
Project Activity
This project is a mixed-methods evaluation combining quantitative and qualitative data to explore Programme implementation and sustainability, equity and access and draw out recommendations for future development.
The Green Paper project is constituted of the following 8 work packages (WPs):
- WP 1: Initial scoping work to update the Programme theory of change and finalise methods
- WP 2: Key informant and education settings surveys
- WP 3: Analysis of routine data at all sites
- WP 4: Interviews with individuals in strategic, implementation and delivery roles
- WP 5: Capturing experiences and outcomes of support from an MHST
- WP 6: Assessing school-level activities and their effects
- WP 7: Comparative costing and cost-effectiveness analysis
- WP 8: Specification of a method for longer-term monitoring and data collection.
WP5 is being conducted by the team at the University of Cambridge led by Professor Tamsin Ford, and including Dr Joanna Anderson (Senior Research Associate), Dr Anne-Marie Burn (Senior Research Associate), Dr Ariadna Albajara Saenz (Research Associate) and Aslihan Baser (Research Assistant).
WP5 will explore: 1) the outcomes of children and young people who access MHST support; 2)
children and young people’s experiences of accessing and receiving MHST support; and 3) the views of parents who have received direct or indirect support from an MHST.
Anticipated or actual outputs
Outputs will include:
- Publication of findings in peer-reviewed journals.
- An interim report and a final report in May 2026, summarising key findings and tailored for different audiences.
- Presentations at conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings.
- An animated output, co-produced with the children and young people advisory group.
- Infographics, social media, podcasts and blogs for the different groups of stakeholders.
- A consensus event with national, regional and local stakeholders to explore the implications of the findings for decision-makers.
Our results will inform Programme rollout, will be of interest to stakeholders involved in youth mental health support planning and provision, and will contribute to improving mental health support in schools.
Papers/resources
Ellins, J, Hocking, L, Al-Haboubi, M, Newbould, J, Fenton, S-J, Daniel, K, Stockwell, S, Leach, B, Sidhu, M, Bousfield, J, McKenna, G, Saunders, K, O'Neil, S & Mays, N 2023, 'Early evaluation of the Children and Young People's Mental Health Trailblazer programme: a rapid mixed-methods study', Health and Social Care Delivery Research, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1-137
Ellins, J, Hocking, L, Al-Haboubi, M, Newbould, J, Fenton, S-J, Daniel, K, Stockwell, S, Leach, B, Sidhu, M, Bousfield, J, McKenna, G, Saunders, C, O’Neill, S & Mays, N 2023, 'Implementing mental health support teams in schools and colleges: the perspectives of programme implementers and service providers', Journal of Mental Health
Department of Health, Department for Education. Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: A Green Paper. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office; 2017
Who is involved?
This project is a collaboration between the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the University of Birmingham, and the University of Cambridge.
PIs: Professor Nicholas Mays (LSHTM) and Dr Jo Ellins (University of Birmingham)
The team at the LSHTM also includes: Dr David Lugo Palacios, Dr Stephen O’Neill, Dr Jessica Mundy and Miss CJ Iliopoulos (Project Manager).
The team at the University of Birmingham also includes: Dr Sarah-Jane Fenton, Dr Gemma McKenna, Dr Ellie Moore, Dr Colette Soan and Mr Niyah Campbell.
The team in Cambridge is led by Professor Tamsin Ford and includes: Dr Anne-Marie Burn, Dr Joanna Anderson, Dr Ariadna Albajara Saenz and Miss Aslihan Baser.
For further details, you can contact CJ Iliopoulos (Project Manager, LSHTM): CYP_mentalhealth@lshtm.ac.uk
Contact
Professor Tamsin Ford: tjf52@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Professor Nicholas Mays: nicholas.mays@lshtm.ac.uk
Dr Jo Ellins: j.l.ellins@bham.ac.uk
