Community Health and Wellbeing survey

What is the purpose of this survey?

In 2018 the Scottish Government set up a Mental Health Taskforce which aimed to look at supporting children, young people and their parents and carers with good mental health services. The aim is that these supports and services should be local, responsive, and delivered at the correct level.

Funding has been provided to councils across Scotland to enable them to prepare to re-design or establish new community mental health services for children and young people. A recommendation highlighted by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce (2019) is that the experiences and voices of children and young people need to be at the centre as key partners in the design of future services.

We are starting this process by conducting a large-scale survey in secondary schools across South Lanarkshire. The link to this survey will be sent to your child by email from the school. It is expected that this will be sent in the next couple of weeks. We want to gather the views of young people about what they feel they need in terms of mental health and wellbeing supports, and what might be helpful to plan for in the future. This will help ensure that services are tailored around the needs of our local children. Therefore, if you feel it is appropriate, please encourage your child to complete the survey.

What will my child be asked to do if they are involved in the survey?

If they are invited to participate, your child will be asked to complete an online survey which should take around 5-10 minutes.

The survey will ask your child their view about the mental health supports they can access currently, and what supports they think would be helpful to have in the future. 

How will my child be involved?

It is important to gather the views of as many young people as possible to ensure that we are clear about what services we should consider putting in place. We are providing secondary school pupils in South Lanarkshire the opportunity to participate in the survey to ensure that we have a good representation of views. Your child will be sent a link to the survey from their school and they can become involved by including their views.

Does my child need to do this survey?

No, your child does not have to complete the survey, it is completely voluntary. We would like to gather the views of as many young people as we can but understand that some parents/carers may not feel it is appropriate for their child. If this is the case, please contact your child’s school to withdraw them from the process.

Your child can also decide to not take part in the survey or to stop answering the questions at any point. There will be no negative consequences as a result of not taking part, and this will also be made clear to your child within the survey consent process.

Are there any possible risks involved in taking part?

We do not expect any risks from taking part in the survey. We are not asking your child for detailed information about their own mental health and wellbeing. However, some young people may not feel comfortable being asked for their views about mental health.  If this is the case, and your child does feel upset, the survey will prompt them with the suggestion of speaking to a trusted adult such as a pupil support or other teacher at school; parent/carer or other family member; a Youth Family and Community Learning worker; a school counsellor or GP.

Your child will also be given the following online/telephone resources, which may be helpful:

• Young Minds: This organisation provides mental health support and advice for young people.
• Childline: This organisation offers support on a wide range of issues. Young people can call and speak with a volunteer counsellor by calling 0800 1111 at any time or access the Childline website.

The information gathered within the survey will be completely anonymous. This means we will not be able to trace responses back to individual young people. Your child will also be informed of this at the start of the research. All of the responses to the survey will be gathered, analysed and formed into a report and raw data will be deleted after 2 years.

If you would like further information, please contact South Lanarkshire Council Psychological Services (Community Mental Health): enquiries@slcpsych.org.uk