Online tools for parents concerned about their child's mental health

Two million children and young people in the UK have unmet mental health needs, causing enormous anxiety to their parents. We propose to bring to market a transformative suite of psychological screening, training and support products to support parents with their child's mental health, born out of clinical expertise and a decade of research and development.

I am a consultant clinical psychologist with specialist expertise about the mental health of vulnerable children, and I'm passionate about using technology to make psychological expertise accessible to children and families. My BERRI digital toolset can identify and help to support children's psychological needs, across the domains of Behaviour, Emotional-wellbeing, Relationships, Risk and Indicators of underlying conditions, providing individualised reports for carers and professionals. This is a giant step forward compared to paper measures that take clinician time to score and interpret. BERRI has already demonstrably saved millions of pounds for local authorities when used with children in public care. An independent social and economic impact analysis shows a return of £108 to the public purse for every £1 spent on our services.

However, there are approximately 2 million children in the UK living at home with their families who have significant mental health needs, and at a time when NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are harder to reach than ever, less than 1/8 of children with mental health needs receive professional input. This issue is particularly acute post-pandemic, and at a time when cost of living pressures are adding significantly to family stress. We therefore propose to develop a version of BERRI to support concerned parents, and help them to meet the needs of their children.

The Women in Innovation grant would allow me to research the needs of parents concerened about their child's mental health, and gather normative data to develop a variant of BERRI to address that population. We can then pilot the system to get user feedback and parent testimonials. We could also film and edit the psychoeducational materials we have designed for parents, who can use them to gain skills to support their child's mental health.

Improving child mental health and reducing parental stress has numerous positive impacts on society. As well as making happier young people who can engage in education, and less stressed parents who can engage in employment, it will reduce the costs of health and social care across the lifespan.