Reaching out: Looking at mental health support for young people in Somerset

Report - 31 October 2023

We have been working with our young volunteers to investigate how accessible young people’s mental health services are in Somerset, and to understand how access to support could be improved.

Many young people clearly feel they need support with their feelings but are
facing many barriers in their journey to receiving help including long waits.

Both young people and adults have shown there is a lack of clarity and knowledge about service provision and confusion about how to obtain assistance from certain services.

Key messages

  • 80% of young people felt they needed support with their feelings in the past 12 months.
  • 47% of young people who felt they needed support did not ask or look for it.
  • 11% of respondents had not heard of any of the Somerset services offering direct support.
  • Young Somerset was the most contacted Somerset support service.
  • Schools are a crucial source of information and signposting for both young people and adults.
  • Many comments indicated a lack or limited knowledge of available support in Somerset.

Read our report

If you need this report in a different format, please email info@healthwatchsomerset.co.uk or call 0800 999 1286.

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Reaching out: Looking at mental health support for young people in Somerset
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