FST JOURNAL

From the start of the Coronavirus lockdown, there were concerns amongst academics, practitioners and charities about the effect of the lockdown on mental health, particularly of children and young people.  When the first lockdown was announced, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the charity MQ Mental Health Research convened an expert panel, which led to a ‘call for action’ for mental health science during the pandemic.  Public Health England has published Covid-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing Surveillance Reports throughout the pandemic, and produced a Mental Health Winter Plan for 2020/21.  The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee took evidence on the mental health impacts of the pandemic as part of its inquiry on the Science of Covid-19.  The media were also reporting the effects of the lockdown on the mental health of children.  The Foundation wanted to explore the evidence from different perspectives, and brought together a Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology, the Chief Executive of the charity MQ Mental Health Research, and the National Lead for Mental Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England.  A video recording of the webinar, presentation slides and speaker audio from the event are available on the FST website.