Barry Wright

5/5 We look forward to the National Youth Strategy in autumn 2025. It will hopefully show some joined up thinking for improving the lives of children and young people in the UK, their development, opportunities, education and quality of life. @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social

4/5 The UK government has also announced limited but much needed funding to schools for improved after school sport, art, music, outdoor activities and volunteering.

3/5 Further UK government funding has been announced for Million Hours Fund investment in youth work and funding for other organisations like the Scouts for youth services in areas with limited opportunities for young people

2/5 Recently announced government funding includes funds for Rebuilding the youth club infrastructure decimated by the previous government and pilot funding to local authorities to improve out of school youth opportunities

Prime Minister unveils new opportunities for young people to re-connect with their communities Prime Minister announces major expansion of youth services and real-world opportunities to re-connect young people with the world around them

1/5 A very welcome announcement in the UK for increased funding for youth services. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Language deprivation (including adequate early access to sign language and good communication) are huge problems facing deaf children - affecting educational outcomes, social & emotional development, subsequent employment & finances and quality of life. Hugely important in a deaf child’s early life.

An interesting related study from Yorkshire led by @megang04.bsky.social (>6000 children in 21 schools) showed most schools believed they had a whole school approach, but only 43% achieved at least 4 of the 6 main elements. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

2/14 Research on child mental health support and interventions needs to broaden its horizons. Services have tended to prioritise interventions often based on adult models such as medication and CBT. Should we have more developmentally appropriate, child friendly interventions? What would these be?

Important report out this month exploring youth mental health in England, with highlights including decline in the myriad tapestry of youth services since 2010 youthfuturesfoundation.org/wp-content/u... @jess-deighton.bsky.social @olademk.bsky.social @lucyfoulkes.bsky.social

New research set to uncover lost ancient medical texts A team of researchers at the University of Manchester have secured a major €2.5 million (£2.1 million) grant from the European Research Council to uncover lost medical writings that could transform ou...

New research set to uncover lost ancient medical texts

A team of researchers at @manchester.ac.uk have secured a major €2.5 million grant from the @erc.europa.eu to uncover lost medical writings that could transform our understanding of ancient medicine. ⤵️
www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/n...

Evidence from the MBRRACE-UK perinatal epidemiology study showing higher risks & worse maternity outcomes for women with past children’s social care involvement. Better co-working & communication is needed between maternity services, social care & community health. www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

One-session treatment compared with multisession CBT in children aged 7-16 years with specific phobias: the ASPECT non-inferiority RCT - PubMed This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in <i>Health Technology Assessment</i>; Vol. ...

Here’s a good RCT example comparing single session treatment for specific phobia with multi-session CBT in children and young people: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36318050/

'Forever chemical' TFA found in all but one of tested UK rivers The long-term impact of the chemical on human health is still unclear and being researched.

More important research from York’s Professor of environmental science @AlistairBoxall.Bskyb.social @york.co.uk showing levels of pollution in UK rivers of great concern to health www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @SteveBarclay.bskyb.social

A pile of “books to read” is a thing of beauty. It is an organism that you have a relationship with. It grows and shrinks, ebbs and flows and is regularly changing shape. It is a source of anticipation and joy.

a man in a red shirt measures a window with a tape measure ALT: a man in a red shirt measures a window with a tape measure

Why this matters:

While we know deaf people face unique challenges growing up, we've lacked standardized ways to measure these experiences and their impact on lifelong health and wellbeing. 2/6

Systematic approach to school-based assessments for autism spectrum disorders to reduce inequalities: a feasibility study in 10 primary schools - PubMed We identified nine new children with a diagnosis of ASD, all from ethnic minorities, suggesting that this process may be addressing the inequalities in early diagnosis found in previous studies. All c...

Importantly research shows when EYFS is used in a two stage screening process some children with autism are identified earlier. This can address inequalities because new children being identified are from groups previously shown to be more likely to be missed. 3/3 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33455935/

Primarily, the EYFSP provides Year 1 teachers with an accurate understanding of each child's development and learning needs to inform their planning for the next stage of education. It also keeps parents informed about their child's progress. But could it be used more productively? 2/3

In June English teachers will collect Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) profile information for Reception children across 7 areas of learning/development: socio-emotional, expressive arts, communication/language, understanding the world, physical, literacy and mathematics. 1/3

Child mental health and resilience in the context of socioeconomic disadvantage: results from the Born in Bradford cohort study - PubMed Socioeconomic disadvantage has been linked to mental health difficulties in children and adolescents, although many children appear to do well despite exposure to financial adversity in childhood. Our...

A study from a few years ago showed that children in poverty are at higher risk of mental health problems aged 5 but that maternal warmth in infancy is a protective factor against this 3/3
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31243580/

Childhood Maternal Warmth and Adolescent Health This cohort study examines how maternal warmth at 3 years of age shapes adolescent social safety schemas at 14 years of age and physical and mental health at 17 years of age.

This recent study shows that maternal warmth at 3 years old is associated with feeling socially secure at 14 even when controlling for a range of factors 2/3 doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0815 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Maternal warmth in infancy is a powerful factor in children’s social and emotional development. For example…1/3

More great work from the “Born in Bradford” research family @bihr.bsky.social @profrosiemc.bsky.social

A great piece of research exploring how accurately autistic people, non-autistic people and a mixed group with both, pass on information on in a chain of communication. A nice short informatics video also to explain the results.

📢Calling experts in UK health and social care staff wellbeing, including staff working there! We need your help to understand the demands staff face at work and which resources best support them to inform future research.

Find out more: tinyurl.com/3wb5vj6x

Manualised Attachment-Based Interventions for Improving Caregiver-Infant Relationships: A Two-Stage Systematic Review - Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review As attachment-based interventions can improve caregiver-infant relationships and their subsequent psychological outcomes, the identification of relevant and effective interventions can facilitate thei...

Manualised attachment-based interventions can help to nurture parent-infant relationships. Great to see this new systematic review highlighting that 80% of the studies found an improvement in parent-infant relationships. #Attachment #parentinfantrelationships link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Impact of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on children’s health: Evidence and recommendations for mitigation On 7th October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1100 Israeli civilians. This was followed by a war in Gaza and Israeli forces continuously bombed and launched military attacks on the Gaza ...

Children caught up in war are at risk in so many ways. Their physical and mental health should be protected from the impact of war. This article in Global Public Health lays out clear ways to try to achieve this: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Could these structures be for blast protection for the ward windows in the King George V wing? They will let in some light an air, which for a hospital is preferable to simple sandbags.

Sharing meals with others: How sharing meals supports happiness and social connections The World Happiness Report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent ed...

Eating together with friends or family members has benefits such as enhancing social connectedness. Countries where people share more meals have higher levels of social support and positive social reciprocity, and are less likely to experience loneliness. worldhappiness.report/ed/2025/shar...

This previous research made recommendations for healthcare providers including increasing the awareness of deaf people’s rights (especially communication needs and rights) and the importance of recognising children’s developmental needs and the potential risks and challenges in these contexts.