ILLUSTRATIVE MAP OF DIGITAL ASSETS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE’S MENTAL HEALTH. ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT: The project team collected around fifty examples of services, campaigns and digital assets that were targeted at young people, both under development and available for use. The mapping exercise was not exhaustive. Based on the examples we have identified, we have proposed three ‘activity types’ to base a map of assets in six key audience areas. What is clear is that many services fit more than one activity type.
In terms of the public service context, the value of online information sources is already well recognised. We present examples which show both mental health specific information and wider youth information which includes mental health, with an idea of enabling discussion about how best to present information and encourage interaction and social sharing by young people of accurate content.
In terms of online services, we have presented examples from NHS, third sector and social enterprise/business sectors, which use digital technology to deliver mental health services, increase young people’s engagement with services, and enable young people to self-manage their mental health problems. Assets in this category are likely to be of particular interest to NHS stakeholders.
Finally, we have sought to connect the audience categories to the ways in which young people use the internet to develop and maintain social capital, explore identity and reflect. These assets will be of interest both in terms of their touch points with those using NHS services, and in terms of understanding how young people are using digital in the way young people of previous generations may have kept paper diaries and passed notes in class.
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