Young Minds, Hidden Struggles
This project started in June 2024 and engagement finished in February 2025, and the report was published in September 2025.
Aims of the project are to enhance system-wide understanding of self-harm and the factors driving children and young people between the ages of 10-24 to engage in such behaviours. The project used the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) definition of ‘self-harm’, as ‘intentional self-poisoning or self-injury, irrespective of the apparent purpose of the act’.
Through collaboration between Healthwatch Medway, Healthwatch Kent, MVA Kent and Medway, Medway Council’s Public Health Team and Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership, the project seeks to identify contributing factors, gaps in and opportunities to improve outcomes for children and young people in Medway and Swale.