• Young people in Hampshire, Southampton and the Isle of Wight to benefit from access to digital mental health platform Kooth
  • Kooth is available for free to 11-25 year olds, with no referrals or thresholds to meet
  • Demand for Kooth continues to grow in the wake of the pandemic – +42% in the past year 

London, UK, June 3rd 2021: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) has commissioned Kooth to provide digital counselling and support to children and young people aged between 11 and 25 years old. 

Kooth is a digital mental health and wellbeing platform that provides a safe and confidential means for young people to access online support from a team of qualified counsellors. The service, accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), can be accessed using a computer, smartphone or tablet device. It was commissioned by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS following concerns from GPs that young people didn’t meet the thresholds for specialist CAMHS services, yet still needed additional support. 

Recently released data from Kooth – Pulse Report 2021 – has highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people across the UK. Key findings from the study, include:

  • Kooth platform usage up by 42% amongst children and young people.
  • For our under-18 population who have presented with any issues, Kooth has seen a +39% increase in those presenting with suicidal thoughts and a +27% increase in those presenting with self-harm.
  • In 2020, Kooth handled +51% young people presenting with eating difficulties.
  • For Black, Asian and Non-White young people, there was a +83% increase in sleep difficulties, a +71% increase in school/college issues and a +25% increase in feelings of sadness.

Users will be able to receive one-on-one, anonymous counselling sessions with fully trained and qualified counsellors and emotional wellbeing practitioners, 365 days a year. Sessions run from midday to 10pm on weekdays, and from 6pm to 10pm at weekends and can be booked in advance or accessed as a drop-in instant text-based chats. 

Children and young people will also have access to peer-to-peer support through pre-moderated discussion forums and can read and contribute to Kooth’s mental health and wellbeing magazine. Kooth can also be used to keep an online journal and track your wellbeing via an interactive goal tracker. There are no waiting lists or thresholds, so people can use the service once they have registered.

Dr Clare Harris, GP for Child Safeguarding Hampshire CCGs, says “As a GP in Hampshire, I’m delighted patients aged 11-25 years can now access Kooth. The mental health needs of children and young people have increased significantly over recent years, and the pandemic has exacerbated this.  It’s great to have such a positive resource to support our patients improve their mental health and wellbeing.”

Dr Lynne Green, Chief Clinical Officer at Kooth Plc added: “We are delighted to announce that Kooth will now be available to people aged between 11 and 25 in Hampshire, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. The pandemic has accelerated the need for additional support services for our young people. It is imperative that children get help at an early stage before their needs escalate, as well as have somewhere to turn to in times of struggle. We encourage young people to make the most of the services, whether that’s joining the live discussion forms or reading through the library of articles, while our friendly team of experienced counsellors are here to provide support as and when it is needed.” 

Ends

About Kooth plc:

Kooth is the UK’s leading digital mental health platform. Our mission is to provide accessible and safe spaces for everyone to achieve better mental health. Our platform is clinically robust and accredited to provide a range of therapeutic support and interventions. All our services are predicated on easy access to make early intervention and prevention a reality.

Our four services are:

  • Kooth: for children and young persons
  • Kooth Student: for university and higher-education students
  • Kooth: for Adults 
  • Kooth Work: for employees

Kooth is a fully safeguarded and pre-moderated community with a library of peer and professional created content, alongside access to experienced online counsellors. There are no thresholds for support and no waiting lists. Currently, Kooth sees over 4,000 logins a day.

For adults,  Kooth operates across distinct locations and serves specific cohorts, including parents, teachers, victims of crime, and those who have suffered from or continue to experience domestic violence. It is also offered as a benefit by a number of corporate organisations delivering anonymous digital mental health support services to employees.

Kooth is the only digital mental health provider to hold a UK-wide accreditation from the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). 

Kooth recently launched the #DontDoItAlone campaign alongside five well known influencers to share the importance of not dealing with mental wellbeing alone. You can view the campaign here