Islington: Using strategic needs assessments to better meet the mental health and wellbeing needs of families

Two years before receiving funding from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, the team in Islington completed a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) of the 0-5 population and their families. Following the introduction of the Family Hub model, an additional wider needs assessment of the 0-18 population (and 0-25 for special educational needs) was completed in line with Family Hub and Start for Life programme expectations. Together, this helped to identify key areas of focus for Islington’s Start for Life services.

Firstly, the team found a need to address existing inequalities within the local area, exemplified by the proximity of the most deprived communities to the most affluent communities. Both needs assessments also identified underrepresented communities within the area who were less likely to access Family Hubs support.

Building on the findings of the JSNA and wider needs assessment, action was focused on improving perinatal mental health support provided through Family Hubs by implementing the shared vision that “mental health is everybody’s business”. As universal practitioners are well placed to identify early perinatal mental health and wellbeing needs, through the delivery of universal services, funding was used to upskill these practitioners in identifying and supporting parents with mental health needs.

Secondly, action was taken to use the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme funding to better meet the needs of underrepresented communities. The team engaged with these communities to understand barriers preventing them from accessing perinatal mental health and wellbeing services. Using this knowledge, community sector partners were commissioned to deliver support within target communities and implemented targeted interventions to encourage engagement.

Before receiving Family Hubs and Start for Life programme funding, the team in Islington identified a major barrier – that practitioners delivering universal services did not feel confident or knowledgeable enough to provide support to parents with mental health and wellbeing needs. Any mental health needs were being referred to specialist mental health teams. As a result of efforts to upskill the workforce, universal health practitioners have felt more empowered to support families with their mental and emotional health needs and better coordinate with specialist mental health practitioners. The team noted that fewer families have experienced gaps in support along the pathway and engagement with services has improved.

The communication gap between universal and specialist services was identified as a key barrier to providing the relevant support for perinatal mental health referrals within Islington. The Start for Life team resolved this by proactively reaching out to practitioners and inviting them to lead presentations about their services and address knowledge gaps. They also provided information on how to contact the specialist perinatal mental health team when needed. The goal was to connect teams working on the same issues. Given the numerous teams involved, such as early years, health visiting, nursery staff, NICU, specialist pioneer mental health team and others, effective communication was not always easy to achieve, however was integral when aiming to build effective working relationships.

This case study has been produced by the Start for Life Unit within the Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with RSM and Islington Council. By sharing promising examples of delivery, we hope to facilitate connections between LAs across the country and support local delivery of Start for Life services. For further information please contact familyhubs.startforlife@dhsc.gov.uk

The data included in these case studies is self-reported by Local Authorities and has not been quality assured by the Department of Health and Social Care. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department.