• To acknowledge the high demand on specialist mental health services for children and young people
• To recognise that non-mental health nurses are well placed to provide mental health assessment of children and young people
• To read about a web-based app designed to support non-mental health nurses when assessing the mental health needs and risks for children and young people
There is high demand for specialist mental health services for children and young people in the UK. Non-mental health nurses are well-placed to assess the mental health needs and risks of children and young people to maximise opportunities for early intervention and relieve the pressure on child and adolescent mental health services. This article provides an overview of a service development project to develop a web-based application (app) to support non-mental health nurses when assessing the mental health needs and risks of children and young people. The article describes the development, testing and evaluation process, which involved consultation with children and young people as well as interviews, focus groups and an online survey with a range of professionals working with children and young people. Overall, the findings suggest that the app is appropriate for use by non-mental health nurses in terms of quality, functionality and acceptability.
Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2024.e1503
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to open peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Doyle MA, Singh M, McNulty P et al (2024) Developing a web-based app for non-mental health nurses to assess the mental health needs and risks of children and young people. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2024.e1503
AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to thank the rest of the steering group members involved in the development of the app for their guidance throughout this project, everyone who took part in informing and co-designing the app and the RCN Foundation for funding the project
Published online: 19 February 2024
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