An effective, data driven, interoperable, early intervention to tackle the covid related decline in youth mental health

在新冠肺炎爆发之前，全球青年心理健康服务已经不堪重负，资金不足(世卫组织2018年)。年轻人中的精神疾病花费了高达63,878英镑的人均公共资金(Suhrcke，2008)。在新冠肺炎期间，对支持的需求增加了，而获得支持的机会减少了(青年思维2020)。已经有证据表明，封锁期间儿童抑郁症增加([Bignardi\-2020][0][Cortina\-2020][1])。自3月20日以来，MeeTwo上的参与度增加了30%，高风险帖子增加了65%。COVID造成了多种共同发生的风险因素，增加了精神健康困难的可能性(例如，父母失业、婚姻冲突、丧亲)。这种风险的累积只会随着时间的推移而展开，因此早期干预至关重要[(Wade，2020)][2]。早期干预有助于防止年轻人达到危机临界点，并降低成年后长期精神疾病的可能性(RCON 2017)。在新冠肺炎上发帖，英国利用创新的预防、干预和服务提供方法至关重要。MeeTwo是一款针对11-25岁人群的多次获奖的同行支持应用程序。它已经支持了35000名年轻人，并被NHS应用程序库收入囊中。MeeTwo Connect是一项新服务，在封锁期间推出，使年轻人能够从该应用程序内连接到他们的学校、大学或NHS心理健康服务提供者。MeeTwo和MeeTwo Connect具有创新性，因为它们提供了随时随地访问多个可互操作的心理支持选项。2017年推出的MeeTwo数据集现在足够大，可以提供对大流行影响的纵向洞察。我们迫切需要开发一套数据报告工具，并进行独立的影响评估，以便我们能够充分利用我们的数据的价值。将机器学习与先进的数据分析技术相结合，将提高我们对新冠肺炎之后青少年心理健康的了解，并增强我们帮助用户获得适当服务的能力。该项目直接解决了新冠肺炎引发的心理健康问题。通过更好地理解我们的数据，我们可以确定新冠肺炎是如何损害青年心理健康的，并按问题、地点、性别和年龄提供有针对性的支持。对37%转诊至CAMHS但在评估后出院的年轻人进行早期干预将大幅削减CAMHS的等待名单。在2017/18年度，69%的被转介到CAMHS的年轻人在一年内没有接受治疗(儿童专员2018年)。为所有年轻人提供易于获得的、高质量的、以证据为基础的心理帮助将减轻学校和大学辅导员、CAMHS和IAPT的负担；使辅导员和临床医生能够专注于最有需要的人。通过这项研究开发的数据报告工具将更容易与机构共享数据，以提供信息和改进他们的服务。这项为期9个月的实验/工业研究项目，与安娜·弗洛伊德中心和牛津国民健康保险制度基金会信托基金合作运营将确保MeeTwo Connect完全具备在后新冠肺炎复苏中发挥主导作用的能力。[0]：https://osf.io/v7f3q/[1]：https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence-based-practice-unit/files/coronavirus_emerging_evidence_issue_2.pdf[2]：https://ucl-new-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay？docid=TN_elsevier_sdoi_10_1016_j_psychres_2020_113143&context=PC&vid=UCL_VU2？=en_US&search_scope=CSCOP_UCL&adaptor=primo_central_multiple_fe&tab=local&query=any，包含，心理%20Health%20青年%20Covid&Offset=0

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 youth mental health services globally were already overstretched and unfunded (WHO\_2018). Mental illness in young people costs the public purse up to £63,878 per person, pa (Suhrcke\_2008). During COVID-19 the need for support has increased, whilst access to support has declined (Young\_Minds\_2020). There is already evidence of increased childhood depression during lockdown ([Bignardi\_2020][0]\_[Cortina\_2020][1]). Since March 20th, engagement on MeeTwo has increased by 30% and high risk posts have increased by 65%. COVID has created multiple co-occurring risk factors that increase the likelihood of mental health difficulties (e.g., parental job loss, marital conflict, bereavement). The aggregation of this risk will only unfold over time so early intervention is crucial [(Wade, 2020)][2]. Early intervention helps prevent young people reaching crisis point and decreases the likelihood of long-term mental ill health in adulthood (RCON 2017). Post COVID-19 it is critical that the UK exploit innovative methods of prevention, intervention and service delivery.MeeTwo is a multi-award winning peer support app for people aged 11-25\. It already supports 35k young people and is featured on the NHS Apps Library. MeeTwo Connect is a new service, launched during lockdown, which enables young people to connect to their school, university or NHS mental health provider from within the app. MeeTwo and MeeTwo Connect are innovative because they provide anytime, anywhere access to multiple interoperable psychological support options.Launched in 2017, the MeeTwo data set is now big enough to provide longitudinal insights into the impact of the pandemic. We urgently need to develop a suite of data reporting tools and undertake independent impact evaluation so that we can fully exploit the value of our data. The integration of Machine Learning and advanced data analytics techniques will improve understanding of youth mental health following COVID-19 and increase our capacity to help users access appropriate services.This project directly addresses the mental health issues arising from COVID-19\. With a better understanding of our data we can identify how COVID-19 has damaged youth mental health and deliver targeted support by issue, location, gender and age. Early intervention for the 37% of young people referred to CAMHS but discharged following assessment would slash CAMHS waiting lists. In 2017/18, 69% of young people referred to CAMHS did not receive treatment within a year (Children's Commissioner 2018). The provision of easily accessible, high quality, evidence based mental help for all young people will reduce the burden on school and university counsellors, CAMHS and IAPT; freeing up counsellors and clinicians to focus on those with greatest need. Data reporting tools developed with this research will make it easier to share data with institutions to inform and improve their services.This 9-month Experimental/Industrial Research project, run in partnership with The Anna Freud Centre and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust will ensure that MeeTwo Connect is fully equipped to play a leading role in the post COVID-19 recovery.[0]: https://osf.io/v7f3q/[1]: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/evidence-based-practice-unit/sites/evidence-based-practice-unit/files/coronavirus_emerging_evidence_issue_2.pdf[2]: https://ucl-new-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_elsevier_sdoi_10_1016_j_psychres_2020_113143&context=PC&vid=UCL_VU2?=en_US&search_scope=CSCOP_UCL&adaptor=primo_central_multiple_fe&tab=local&query=any,contains,mental%20health%20youth%20covid&offset=0