Best For You is a new approach to mental health care designed for – and in consultation with – young people and their families. It is run in partnership by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, West London NHS Trust, and CW+. It is being evaluated by academic experts at Imperial College.

As part of an ongoing partnership with YouTube, Best For You has released a new animation to tackle stigma and misconceptions around eating disorders.

ABOUT BEST FOR YOU

As part of Best For You, we are building two state-of-the-art NHS spaces, and connecting organisations within and beyond the NHS to provide early intervention support, clinical assessment and specialist treatment.

In addition, Best For You brings together a wide range of tried-and-tested digital resources on one website, providing 24/7 support for young people.

BEST FOR YOU AND YOUTUBE

Best For You has been working in partnership with YouTube since 2022.

The Best For You YouTube channel is verified as being ‘from a trusted source’ because the programme brings together experts (including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses and allied health professionals) from its three NHS Trusts.

This verification means that videos on the Best For You channel are eligible to be included in YouTube’s ‘health shelves’, a list of videos at the top of search results that are labelled as ‘from health sources’.

AN ANIMATION ABOUT EATING DISORDERS

The latest video uploaded to the Best For You YouTube channel is an animation that gives an overview of eating disorders, including symptoms, causes, and how to get help and support:

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, estimated to affect over a million people in the UK. They often (though not always) develop in adolescence, so it is essential that this age group has access to information and support specifically designed to meet its needs.

The Best For You eating disorder animation was developed in partnership with young people with lived experience of mental ill-health, BB Productions and NHS clinicians to make sure it was accurate, appropriate for young people, and without triggering details or stereotypical imagery.

DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES FROM BEST FOR YOU

The Best For You website is for young people, parents and carers, and professionals (including teachers and youth workers). It brings information, resources, and support together in one place to make it easier for young people and families to find and access the help they need.

You can find information about mental health conditions, as well as content that supports young people to take care of their wellbeing.

Borough-specific signposting pages contain information about NHS services, other free support, and activities that promote wellbeing. The pages make it clear who can access each offer, and whether young people need a referral.

There are also links to digital mental health resources accessible across many parts of the UK, including the Best For You app library and its series of apps of the month.

For young people requiring urgent support, there is a Get help now page. It includes the innovative NATTER service, run in partnership with Mental Health Innovations. Young people can always text NATTER to 85258 to get text-based support from a trained volunteer, who will aim to help the young person reach a calmer place where they can take their next steps to feeling better. The page also links to NHS urgent mental health helplines and other telephone and online offers.