A Cambridge professor highlights the need to prioritize the voices and interests of children and young people, especially during emergencies like the Covid pandemic. Research shows that children's mental health was largely overlooked during lockdowns, with few studies focusing on their unique experiences and needs.
A Cambridge professor says the interests and voices of children and young people should be respected after they were 'dropped down the agenda' during the Covid lockdown. An article by Prof Tamsin Ford in the British Medical Journal said efforts should be made to bring children and young people on board, even during an emergency situation like the pandemic.
It followed findings that 200,000 research studies on mental health impacts were carried out at the height of the pandemic, but only 35 concerned children.Cambridge Children's Hospital mental health research lead Prof Tamsin Ford said the 'interests of children and young people were not at the table' during lockdownsaid better evidence on how children's mental health could be affected by health shocks, like the Covid pandemic, was essential to inform policy responses.The peer reviewed article drew on multiple sources, including a survey shared with Cambridge Children's Network and charities. It also described how experiences diverged. Some families enjoyed additional time together, but children in abusive households, and young carers, faced isolation and extra threats to their mental wellbeing.Luke, 17, from Stevenage, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2020 and restrictions on hospital visitors and school closures meant that his parents could visit him, but his younger brother Ryan was unable to because he had had to live with his grandparents to enable the parents to continue with the hospital visits. Luke's father Peter said: 'There were no therapy dogs coming in for games, no being in the communal areas. Neither of them got to experience any of that for the whole time.Ann Sabu from the Cambridge Children's Network is one of many young people helping develop Cambridge Children's Hospital Co-author, Ann Sabu, 18, from Cambridge, who is studying to be a doctor, said when schools reopened, she noticed some of her peers struggling with anxiet
CHILDREN's MENTAL HEALTH COVID-19 LOCKDOWN RESEARCH PROFESSOR
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