Why nursing services for children and families need investment

Investment in services for children and families is paramount with 4.3 million UK children living in poverty and the mental health problems associated with it

According to the social change organisation the Joseph Rowntree Foundation 4.3 million children in the UK are living in poverty.

Its report also says the outlook for child poverty is ‘shameful’ with only Scotland of the four UK nations showing some improvement.

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Another report, from researchers at University College London, found that children are more likely to develop mental health problems between five and 18 years of age if the firstborn child in their family experienced adversity in their first 1,000 days of life.

How successful are early support interventions from health visitors and primary care?

Adversity was defined as including unexplained child injuries, domestic violence, substance misuse, maternal mental health issues and homelessness. Researchers analysed GP and hospital records in England from between 2002 and 2018.

They have called for more research into how successful early support interventions from health visitors and primary care can be.

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But we know that there are longstanding shortages of health visitors and inadequate provision in parts of the UK, as the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) points out in its latest report.

‘As children’s nurses you will see the effects of poverty and mental distress daily’

The iHV places perinatal mental health concerns as the top demand on health visitors time in the past year, followed by child behaviour problems including neurodevelopmental issues, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, plus living in poverty and safeguarding worries.

A clear case for more investment in services for children and families

These recent reports alone, and there have been many others, make the case that services for children and families need investment.

As children’s nurses you will see the effects of poverty and mental distress daily with parents struggling to care for a sick child on top of a sometimes distressing family situation.

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Equally, there is also ample evidence that even those young people and families not affected by these issues can also struggle to manage their health as our article Understanding and supporting young people exposed to online misinformation about eczema demonstrates.

Christine Walker is editor, Nursing Children and Young People