Partnering with BBC Children in Need’s A Million & Me programme, Boots is encouraging parents to talk about mental wellness, as over half believe more conversations would improve the mental wellbeing of their child.[i]

With one in four adults now expected to experience a mental health problem[ii] and half of all cases beginning by age 14[iii], having an awareness of mental wellbeing and taking positive action from a young age is key.

As part of the A Million & Me early action programme Boots and Children in Need aims to support children aged 8-13 with their emotional wellbeing.

New research by Boots UK also revealed that over a quarter (26%) of parents and caregivers say it has never crossed their mind to talk about mental wellbeing with their child[iv]. Parents admitted to being more comfortable talking to their children about topics such as drugs, alcohol, bullying and violence.[v]

This World Mental Health Day, over 20,000 Boots colleagues are out in store to help raise awareness of the ways that parents can play an even more active role in their child’s mental wellbeing.

Una Kent, VP, International Pharmacy, Retail and Brand Communications at Walgreens Boots Alliance, says: “We all want the next generation to grow up happy and healthy. Mental health is becoming an increasingly important issue and our partnership with BBC Children in Need will help give parents simple tools to help support their children’s confidence and resilience.”

In light of the new research Boots UK also hosted a roundtable discussion with bestselling author and award-winning parenting vlogger, Louise Pentland, and a group of parents to discuss the importance of their children’s mental wellbeing. 

Louise comments: “Talking about mental wellbeing is just as important as any other conversation you have with your child. Just listening to your child and letting them know they have your support is a great place to start. I’ve found that just talking about my own mental health around my children and making it a comfortable, normal thing to discuss has really helped. If I had a broken arm or headache, we’d all openly talk about it - I want my children to know it should be treated the same.”

 

[i] Censuswide survey of 2000 UK parents and caregivers, September 2019, answer taken from: Question 5: What do you think could be done to improve the mental health / wellbeing of children?

[ii] McManus, S., Meltzer, H., Brugha, T.S., Bebbington, P.E. and Jenkins, R. (2009). Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007: results of a household survey., The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

[iii] Kessler RC et al. (2005). Lifetime Prevalence and Age-Of-Onset Distributions of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

[iv] Censuswide survey of 2000 UK parents and caregivers, September 2019, answer taken from: Question 2: Why have you not spoken to your child about their mental health / wellbeing?