Achi news desk-
“When we said: ‘do you want to come in and see us tonight?’, she broke down because she couldn’t believe she could be seen and supported straight away.
“She expected to wait six to nine months, which is still a realistic waiting time for many services.
“The fact that she could make that phone call in the morning, and be able to see us in the afternoon, was huge for her.”
READ MORE:
The question of what might happen if waiting lists could be abolished for children, young people and their families struggling with problems ranging from anxiety and self-harm to behavioral problems and eating disorders has been at the heart of the thinking behind The Haven. .
The initiative, which was funded for a two-year pilot scheme with £500,000 from the Commission, has been operational for just over seven months now.
Based at the Fraser Center in Tranent, East Lothian, it provides a “wellbeing and resilience” service to families living in the catchment area of ​​Ross High School – an area with high levels of deprivation and unmet need.
Drop-in clinics are held three afternoons a week enabling people to come to the meeting, without any prior appointment, and be seen immediately.
The ethos is early intervention and prevention – trying to head issues before they get worse and, in the long term, ease the pressure on the region’s overstretched Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) rolls.
Although the organizers emphasize that “it is not a medical service”, it is trauma-based and based on psychological methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
For some people, however, their needs may be much simpler.
“Sometimes all people need is to sit down with a cup of tea and have a chat,” says O’Sullivan.
“At other times – if we are not the right service for them – we can direct them straight to another service that is appropriate.
“We work with a lot of great organisations, and we can implement everything very quickly so they don’t wait.
“The other thing that’s really unique about what we do is that even if the family isn’t right for us, we’ll follow them up to make sure they’re OK – did they manage to access the right support?
“We’re not just letting people slip through the cracks.”
So far, around 300 people have turned to The Haven for help – some coming back several times.
In total, it has attracted almost 1,500 visits, split more or less equally between children and teenagers or members of their wider family, including parents, siblings, and grandmothers and grandfathers.
The vast majority of cases (85%) are related to anxiety, but half are related to stress related neurodiversity – such as autism or ADHD – and a quarter are related to self-harm.
A “small but significant percentage” are young people struggling with eating disorders or suicidal thoughts.
Behavioral challenges – for example, children being violent at home – or feeling unable to attend school are also common themes.
“I think the pandemic has played a huge part in this,” O’Sullivan said.
“Going to school – those friendships in their peer group can cause a lot of anxiety.
“We try to support the children when they come to us with coping strategies so they can take those steps back to school and understand why friendships may not have been going as they should they wanted them to be.
“Then we can start to challenge their thought processes so they can better understand how to manage their emotions and feelings.”
Service users, who are asked to give feedback about their experiences anonymously, describe a sense of positivity.
One said they were “drowning before” but credited The Haven with helping them find the right support, while another said their son was “now happier talking about his feelings “.
Another parent said that their child had been verbally and physically violent towards them previously but “since coming to Hafan this has stopped”.
One added: “This is the first time in a long time that I’ve felt some relief. I’ve been fighting for so long for my son, and when my daughter’s problems started I didn’t know what to do. ”
By locating the service in a limited geographical area, the ECHC – which raises money to provide extra support for sick children within NHS Lothian – wanted to evaluate demand, without being overwhelmed.
The aim is to build evidence for the positive effects of the model so that – when the pilot period ends – there is a business case for The Haven to be permanently publicly funded, potentially offering a blueprint for other health board regions.
Roslyn Neely, Chief Executive of the charity, said: “Overwhelmingly, we are very pleased with the first six months.
“There were some unknowns in terms of what the demand would be and who would come through the door, so it has been in line with what we expected to a large extent.
“What we’re trying to do now is get rigorous data on the difference it makes and the impact it has.
“Our absolute dream would be that we could show that we are reducing the impact on CAMHS.
“I don’t think we’re there with the evidence for that yet, but all the signs are that the early intervention approach supports children and young people so they don’t end up using CAMHS over there
“And we see quite a few young people who are able to return to education where they may have been out of the school system for a while.”
An oversight board which brings together the team behind The Haven together with representatives from Public Health Scotland, NHS Lothian, and charities and academics will meet in June to evaluate the progress of the pilot.
Neely said: “The purpose of that is to say ‘who is responsible, and this is the difference it makes’.
“Our charity will not always be the answer, but how can we work in partnership?
“How can we work across sectors to make Hafan a possibility for everyone who needs one?”
