Roughly half of all mental health conditions start by the mid-teens, and three-quarters by the mid-twenties. Childhood and adolescence are key developmental stages when factors such as family, peers and school, as well as poverty, violence and other forms of adversity, can have lifelong consequences for mental health.
At the same time, development interventions targeted at children and young people can build resilience, promote wellbeing and prevent the onset of mental health conditions. But how do we maximise the benefits of existing development interventions for this age group? How can we promote the voices of young people in the design, development and implementation of these interventions?
In this video Tatiana Salisbury (Centre for Global Mental Health, King’s College London) and Kelly Rose-Clarke (Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London) discuss why it’s important to invest in child and adolescent mental health, outline six key messages for donors and discuss how donors can deliver for mental health.
This video was produced from a training module, which was developed by King’s College London and delivered to DFID staff in Summer 2019, as part of the K4D Learning Journey led by the Mental Health Innovation Network on “Leave No One Behind”: Delivering on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities.
Other videos in this series include:
- Health Systems Approaches to Mental Health
- Why Mental Health Matters for Social Development
- Social Development for Mental Health: Scaling Up Promising and Best Practice in Development
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for People in Humanitarian Contexts
Related resource:
Mental Health for Sustainable Development: A Topic Guide for Development Professionals
