Bupa has collaborated with Mental Health UK and ITN Productions Industry News to shine a light on the challenges facing young people during the pandemic, and the toll it’s taken on their mental health.
Launched for World Mental Health Day on Sunday 10 October, ‘Forwarded Together for Mental Health’ features interviews with mental health professionals from Bupa discussing how they’ve been supporting more and more families with mental health concerns.
Earlier this year Bupa’s ‘Teen Minds: Living Through a Pandemic’ campaign revealed the scale of mental health challenges facing Britain's young people. Some 4 million young people were found to have experienced symptoms of poor mental health - many for the first time.
Dr Robin Clark, Medical Director for Bupa Global & UK, who takes part in the programme, said: “The pandemic has brought on a lot of stress for young people at what is already an emotionally turbulent time in their lives. It’s had a severe impact on their education, mental and physical health and wellbeing.”
Bupa’s mental health teams have been supporting increasingly complex cases where young people have developed multiple overlapping symptoms, that occasionally manifest as physical health issues.
In the programme Danielle Panton, a child and adolescent specialist nurse advisor who works on Bupa’s Family Mental Healthline, recalls speaking to a parent whose child was struggling with their mental health and had adopted unhealthy coping mechanisms, including over-exercising and restricting food intake. Danielle offered tips and techniques to manage the issues at home, and worked with the family to agree a treatment plan to get the child back on track.
Dr Robin Clark added: “The last couple of years has been a really worrying time for parents. Bupa’s Family Mental HealthLine has proven itself to be a vital service, helping customers get fast access to trusted help and advice.
“We know that early diagnosis and access to treatment can have a positive impact on the long-term prognosis, and we hope the programme will encourage parents to speak to a health professional about any mental health concerns for their teenager as early as possible.”
Bupa’s Family Mental HealthLine is available to anyone with Bupa UK health insurance who might be worried about a child’s emotional wellbeing, even if they don’t have cover for the child. It provides:
- A team of trained advisors and mental health nurses to listen and provide advice, guidance and support
- Signposting to online resources for additional support and guidance
- Nurse-led case management to help parents with all aspects of their child’s mental health wellbeing, including planning and co-ordinating specialist care if needed
For further support and advice, you can download the Teen Minds: Living through the pandemic and beyond report or visit Bupa’s teen mental wellbeing page.
About Bupa
Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world.
We are an international healthcare company serving over 31 million customers worldwide. With no shareholders, we reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers.
We directly employ around 85,000 people, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Middle East and Ireland. We also have associate businesses in Saudi Arabia and India.
