ORCHA partners with Best For You – transforming children and young people’s mental health services

ORCHA is very proud to announce a partnership with Best For You: a new initiative from leading NHS organisations that will transform mental health services for children and young people. By integrating a range of healthcare services into one patient-centred model of care, Best For You will provide personalised, comprehensive and long-term mental health support to children, young people, and their families. The service will use next-generation therapeutic interventions and digital tools to provide the best possible care for patients – including the use of digitally and clinically assured digital health solutions from their ORCHA digital app library. 

This much-needed service is in response to the public health crisis surrounding children and young people’s need for mental health support. A survey commissioned by NHS Digital found that the number of children and young people with clinically significant mental health conditions was 50% higher post-COVID-19 than the previous survey three years earlier. New data shows that referrals to child and adolescent mental health services in March 2021 were more than double those in March 2020. Mental health has been a top search query in ORCHA Digital Health Libraries since January 2019; during lockdown, however, searches for mental health apps increased by over 200%. And this number is still rising, at an average rate of 55% per month. Best For You will help to tackle this issue through tailored, holistic care which seamlessly integrates mental health services and digital tools.

Data shows us that children and young people are both critical and vulnerable users of mobile health devices and software. While young people are highly likely to go online to find health-related information and guidance, many find it difficult to assess the accuracy of health information from the multiple and varied sources available online. However, the pandemic has also shown that many children respond well to digital counselling.

ORCHA already works with a number of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) teams and NHS Trusts around the UK to create bespoke digital health libraries of assessed mental health technologies. Studies show that mobile health technologies can be just as effective as face-to-face mental health therapies. ORCHA also works directly with children and young people via its Digital Healthy Schools programme, which provides age-appropriate digital health education to schoolchildren. Anxiety, mental health, and depression are among the top five search terms across ORCHA’s Digital Healthy Schools digital health app libraries.

By including compliant digital therapies in its care pathways through the ORCHA partnership, Best For You can address the rising levels of children and young people facing serious mental health difficulties, while safeguarding them from any harmful digital health solutions. The Best For You ORCHA library can be found at /bestforyou.orcha.co.uk/