Publish date: 14 July 2021
Kooth is an online mental health platform for children and young people between 11 and 25 years. The service is now available in all boroughs within North West London, providing a single, consistent service for children and young people.
Covid-19 has had a profound effect on many young people, increasing worry, anxiety, depression and even self-harming. Kooth has seen an increase in its usage by 42% amongst children and young people, and seen an increase of 39% for our under-18 population presenting with suicidal thoughts and a 27% increase in those presenting with self-harm.
Children and young people need help with their mental health and wellbeing, and in partnership with the NHS, Kooth is another way young people in North West London can access timely advice and high-quality support.
Kooth provides an anonymous, self-referral digital service that enables children and young people to ‘drop in’ and find fast, easy and free support that suits them. There are no waiting times, no referrals, no thresholds to meet and complete anonymity. The digital setting also helps reduce the stigma associated with accessing mental health services.
Kooth also offers safe and secure support from an online community of peers and a team of experienced, accredited counsellors, providing mental health and wellbeing support at the earliest opportunity before problems escalate.
Direct counselling support increasing early intervention and prevention, assisting the recovery of children and young people with mental health concerns and helping reduce referrals to Specialist Children’s and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS). Kooth works closely with existing mental health services, signposting to children’s services such as GPs and CAMHS when needed.
Across the UK, Kooth has:
- Provided vital peer-to-peer support for users via pre-moderated discussion forums; 24/7 access to - and the ability to contribute to - curated self-help content, including magazines with wellbeing articles, personal experiences and tips from other users and the Kooth team;
- Had 3,500 children and young people logon to Kooth every day;
- Supported young people through text-based sessions with 3 million minutes of chat sessions taking place in 2020 and;
- Had 94% of children and young people recommending Kooth to their friends.
Find Kooth at www.kooth.com.