Moment2Talk

Developing an understanding of Single Session Interventions (SSIs) for children and young people accessing mental health services in England and Wales

The population and the problem

Currently, there are significant waiting times for Children and Young People (CYP) (aged 0 to 18) to access mental health services. In both England and Wales, despite specific pathways having been developed to cater for the needs of CYP with psychosis, eating disorders and neurodivergence, excessive waiting times remain for referral.

We know that Single Session Interventions (SSIs) can be delivered in different ways, but we don’t yet understand what makes them effective or whether young people, their families, and mental health professionals find them beneficial.

The study

We will conduct a detailed study to understand how SSIs can best support young people referred to mental health services. In this study there are 3 work packages:

a Scoping Review to summarise the current literature on single-session interventions for children and young people accessing mental health referral pathways
develop a stakeholder network to support future research, and will involve a series of co-design workshops with children and young people, families and professionals
development of a survey for health service, education and 3rd sector professionals across England and Wales, to explore how and whether SSIs are used and how effective they are

Work packages 1 and 3 will be supported by input from the public involvement groups developed through work package 2. From these work packages, the team will be well situated to consider how a single session intervention for children and young people with mental health issues could be developed via a further funding call.

The team

This project combines expertise from Cardiff University, Manchester University, Pennine Care NHS Trust, University Hospitals Birmingham and The McPin Foundation.