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Richard Norris, general manager for business and specialist products at Bupa spoke with Health & Protection about why employers should be concerned about young people’s mental health and how advisers can help them.
Why is it so important to address young people’s mental health now?
It is definitely a big issue, particularly post-Covid. According to the NHS Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, 18% of children aged seven to 16 have a probable mental health disorder and in March the Children’s Commissioner found there were more than a quarter of a million children on the waiting list. So, it’s definitely a big issue.
This also impacts their families too. For parents and caregivers, it often causes significant stress and anxiety for them, the siblings and really impacts the overall quality of life for the family.
And this extends beyond the home too.
A study by Morgan Stanley suggests that 50% of parents say it has affected their productivity at work and they struggle to concentrate on the job with 8% of employees having considered leaving their role to support their child’s mental health, so this has a big impact on employers too.
What are some of the key drivers behind the number of young people experiencing mental health difficulties?
Covid has been a catalyst for the significant increase in demand. I’ve got an 11-year-old and a 10- year-old. During their early years, my 10-year-old in particular, didn’t attend school for two years. He did it virtually so he could make connections, but he didn’t develop relationships.
That’s part of the challenge.
Many children are still dealing with the consequences of the pandemic, but there are other challenges too.
Young people now have had digital childhoods with all their lives lived with social media, mobile phones and online content. While this brings many advantages, there are downsides to the rise of bullying and unrealistic expectations of what life can or should be like.
And then there’s the pressure of school life, sibling relationships, exams and all the disruption and uncertainty around us in the world, with climate change a particular concern for young people.
I think a broader, and welcomed trend, is the higher awareness of mental health across all ages, this means more people are seeking help, but it is placing more demand on services too.
Why is support for working caregivers from businesses important?
A YouGov survey in 2023 for The Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children’s Mental Health found six in 10 parents were concerned over their children’s mental health, so it’s really important to support families and young people with their mental health, to help them through any difficult experiences while growing up.
Then there is absenteeism and presenteeism. Presenteeism is more hidden. If there is not a good relationship with their direct reports, leaders are not going to know employees are worried about their children and not being very effective in the business.
Line managers need to create an environment where their teams are comfortable to share what’s going on with their own or their families’ health and know their employer will support them to attend the medical appointments and other commitments this brings.
For longer term needs, where the parent is providing ongoing care for a child with health needs, flexible working policies and broader trust between the employer and employee is key to making this work.
Experience tells us those caregivers leave the workforce or certainly leave businesses where this isn’t the case.
So creating the right culture where employees can tell their manager about any challenges they’re going through at work is important.
How can advisers and intermediaries help their business clients with this?
There are many mental health services available for employers, from employee assistance programmes to private medical insurance and on-site services.
For a young person’s mental health, its particularly important to check the level of cover for ongoing support as many of these conditions can last several years, and check if the provider has put in place specialist pathways for both children and parents to support this growing need.
Advisers and intermediaries will need to make sure the chosen product and provider can provide the right level of support, as services that fall short will create significant challenges for the parent and often the employer.
How can employers approach these difficult conversations with employees?
I understand it’s not necessarily an easy or comfortable conversation to have, but we can open-up that conversation and Bupa have options to enable this. We have nurses who are available through our Family Mental HealthLine to talk about their challenges, rather than the adviser having to do it.
We’ve also partnered with JAAQ (Just Ask A Question). It’s a mental health platform where you can select questions to ask. You could ask ‘what is anxiety?’ and you’ll have an expert on anxiety explaining the signs and symptoms as if they are sat in front of you.
You can also explore people’s lived experiences, JAAQ asks questions from people who have experienced a huge range of issues from depression, to body dysphoria to addiction.
We’re also supporting JAAQ junior, which includes a new series of podcasts for children to start talking about their lives, struggles and mental health. Launching in late September, we hope to make a meaningful difference to young people’s mental health.
Ten years ago we were all debating having to keep mental health cover as optional because not many customers wanted it.
That’s never a conversation you have now because of a greater awareness of mental wellbeing and the importance of prevention and early intervention.
It’s now about how much you can do to support your people, and rightly so.