Overview
The first 5 years of life, including pre-birth, are crucial to development and to protect children from future mental disorders. Common behavioural problems, may for some children herald a developing mental health condition. Ensuring the home environment is as stress free as possible, and that babies and children receive the love, attention and care they need is key to protecting their mental health. By supporting parents and under 5s at the earliest opportunity, we can prevent and mitigate many mental disorders. Unfortunately, most babies, young children and their families do not receive the support they need. This results in population scale preventable suffering with negative lifelong impacts and associated economic costs. Children fail to achieve their potential and may not become the functioning, productive adults they otherwise would have been.
This symposium includes an overview of the 2023 College Report on the importance of early childhood as a key opportunity for both early treatment and prevention of mental disorders.
It will:
- outline evidence supporting every child having the best start in life, describe the prevalence and nature of mental disorders in under 5s and summarise key risk factors
- highlight evidenced-based interventions to treat and prevent mental disorders in under 5s, and the case for action to prevent early childhood distress progressing to adult mental disorder
- discuss contributions from those with lived experience, examples of good practice, the respective early years policy in the 4 nations of the UK, the public mental health implementation gap and recommendations addressing the implementation gap
- report on progress with respect to the recommendations including the College training strategy and engagement with partners and government to agree acceptable coverage of evidence-based interventions
- speakers include authors of the report, a contributor with lived experience who will also provide an example of good practice and RCPsych leaders.
Objectives
- To create awareness of the evidence base for the impacts of the early years to later mental health.
- Increase knowledge of the early years risk factors for the development of mental disorder in childhood and later life.
- Increase knowledge of the evidence-based interventions that support the mental health and wellbeing of babies, young children and their families.
- Increase awareness of the public health implementation gap, associated government policy in this area and required actions to addressing this gap. This will include an update on responses to the recommendations of the College report.
- Increase awareness of what it feels like to be the child of a parent coping with a mental disorder, and the need for all psychiatrists to consider which of their patients is the parent of a baby or young child, or has the potential to become a parent.
- Increase knowledge of the community networks around 0-5s and the families and the importance of robust multi-agency partnerships.
- Provide recommendations aimed at preventing and managing mental and behavioural problems in 0-5s, with a view to reducing long-term mental health problems.
Speakers
Chair: Dr Trudi Seneviratne, Registrar, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London
Dr Clare Lamb, Honorary (unpaid) Consultant child & adolescent psychiatrist. South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Previous lead for under 5s mental health, London
Dr Jonathan Campion, Clinical and Strategic Co-director of Public Mental Health Implementation Centre (Royal College of Psychiatrists), Director for Public Mental Health and Consultant Psychiatrist (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust), Public Mental Health Advisor (WHO Europe), Chair of Public Mental Health Special Interest Group (World Psychiatric Association), Co-Chair of Public Mental Health Working Group (World Federation of Public Health Associations), Honorary Professor of Public Mental Health (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Ms Natasha Manning, Project Manager, Wandsworth Early Help Parental Mental Health Service, London
Dr Lade Smith CBE, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London
