For Lesley Taylor, principal educational psychologist and one of the commissioners at Clackmannanshire Council, budgeting for mental health services should take account of a universal truth: that prevention is better than cure:
“Like many others, we are in a time of increasing levels of need and reducing resources, which means that there’s a danger that interventions move downstream - to members of the population who are firmly ‘in the water’. We’re very much trying to make sure they don’t fall in.”
This approach led to Clackmannanshire Council commissioning Kooth in September 2021 as part of its Mental Health and Wellbeing transformation project, funded through the Scottish Government’s Community Mental Health Supports and Services grant. Kooth is firmly embedded in the community as one of several services designed to ensure the local population has timely access to the support it needs.
Kooth is embedded in the system
Embedding Kooth has been the priority for our engagement team at Kooth, which is focused on raising awareness, not only among people who may need support but also among the network of mental health services across Clackmannanshire.
According to Lesley Taylor: “There are a number of reasons we decided to work with Kooth. One is the level of support you’ve provided as an organisation in terms of the actual service for children and young people – timely access to counselling and direct messaging have been particularly helpful for our young people. Another is the support you’ve offered with engagement, communications and marketing materials. It’s what has helped you to stand out as a high quality provider who is delivering a service, not just a product. As part of a wraparound service, the engagement work you undertake really makes a difference in driving awareness and usage.”
This observation is borne out with the data, which shows a high level of engagement across Clackmannanshire: the service is utilised by one in every 14 children and young people. In terms of mental health issues, the three most prevalent centre around anxiety/stress, self harm and school and college issues.
Extending the service
High take-up of Kooth, as a service closely integrated with other local providers, was a key driver for the Council extending the service in February this year: today, Qwell (our adult service) is now available for parents and carers of children and young people aged 0-18 – the first local authority in Scotland to offer such a service.
According to Lesley Taylor: “Kooth is a highly valued service for us. It was initially commissioned for children and young people between the ages of ten and 18. This was extended to those up to age 26 and, more recently, we have commissioned Qwell to support parents and carers as part of our Family Wellbeing Partnership.”
Help outside traditional nine-to-fine hours
As well as extending the number of people who can access support, commissioning Kooth and Qwell has extended the availability of support beyond traditional nine-to-five hours.
Lesley: “One of our favourite sayings is: you can’t pour from an empty cup. Traditional nine-to-five services are obviously a key part of the mental health landscape, but a lot of parents and young people will report struggling in the evenings, so it’s important to have help there when it’s needed - for parents or carers and their children. There’s a certain ‘cross-pollination’ too, so if parents are using the service we hope they will be more likely to direct their child to it too. There’s that familiarity and trust.”
Equitable access to support
Having a digital service that is easily and equitably accessed means local populations always have somewhere to go if and when they are struggling, which is where the Council wanted to get to in terms of offering universal support.
Lesley said: “We’ve always taken the view that digital mental health services are not a silver bullet, but are definitely a key part of our wraparound service. We want to offer a universal level of support and can’t always provide that through traditional face to face services. In fact, having Kooth and Qwell and other wraparound services means we can make face to face support a targeted service for those with a higher level of need.”