Barry Wright

The old frustrations appear in the take home messages from @thekingsfund.bsky.social latest publication including “Inequalities emerge early and have lifelong consequences.”
and “Long waits for child mental health services and demand for community paediatrics signal concerning gaps in access.”

Wes Streeting orders review of mental health diagnoses as benefit claims soar Health secretary has asked experts to investigate whether normal feelings have become ‘over-pathologised’

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

@pfonagy.bsky.social will be leading a review into autism, ADHD and mental health diagnoses. It will be interesting to see the terms of the review. This could be a very important moment for mental health conditions and services in the UK.

About a third of young people appear to need more targeted support. More trials to explore this with more innovative interventions would be helpful @ucl-cpru.bsky.social @nihr.bsky.social @nihrarcs.bsky.social @lucyfoulkes.bsky.social

Interesting findings from the MYRIAD mindfulness school trial with large number of young people followed up from pre-intervention to 12m. 69%-80% had few emotional well-being problems across times, 11%-23% stable high-problem trajectories, 2%-16% worsening problems & 1%-5% decreasing problems.

Interesting review but missing some papers such as doi:10.1136/archdischild-2013-305283. Ages 8-18 with migraine & hallucinations. Worth a read for the young people’s perspective (experiences often start before adulthood) @aldersonday.bsky.social
@echrhallucinations.Bsky.social
@theichr.bsky.social

These are all good. I strongly believe that further research on the causes and prevention of language deprivation is a priority. So it is very good to see that on both lists. Language deprivation in early life (and later) can have far reaching developmental consequences.

@iaspinfo.bsky.social Good to hear about initiatives like this that seek to understand and prevent youth self-harm and suicide, especially if it gathers evidence from young people themselves. www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/...

Whatever the origins of war, is it not a principle of great importance that those in power, or with influence over conflict, should do all they can to protect children - from war itself and from its consequences? Children carry those traumas into their futures, and indeed they are the future.

Light

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/