Jersey’s first Public Mental Health Profile which aims to paint a picture of the mental health and wellbeing of Jersey’s population has been published.
The report takes a Public Health perspective and draws data relating to population mental health from various sources.
Some headlines of the report include:
- the majority of adults report high or very high scores for happiness (66%), satisfaction (69%), and feeling worthwhile (69%)
- some groups of people were more likely to report low wellbeing scores, such as those who are finding it difficult to cope financially or live in materially deprived households, and those who consider their general health to be bad
- 14% of adults often felt lonely, and those who rarely or never socialised were more likely to have lower wellbeing scores
- in 2021 around 13,100 patients were prescribed antidepressants, an increase of 18% over the last 6 years
- among children, the average scores for anxiety have increased in 2021 compared to 2018, particularly amongst females
- young people from materially deprived households were more likely to report low self-esteem, and those children with low self-esteem were more likely to have self-harmed in the last 12 months
- there have been over 1,000 cumulative registrations for ‘Kooth’ the online mental health and wellbeing advice and support service for young people
This report is the first publication of its kind in Jersey, and Public Health welcomes feedback to support future development of the profile.
The Assistant Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Rose Binet, and the Director of Public Health, Professor Peter Bradley, have responded to the Island’s first Mental Health Profile. “We are pleased that this report has been published as it gives us the opportunity to understand the state of mental health and wellbeing of Jersey’s population. It is encouraging to see the majority of Islanders recorded high scores for happiness, satisfaction, and feeling worthwhile. However, the report does also highlight that there are Islanders who may be experiencing poorer mental health and wellbeing.
“To further understand the challenges faced by Islanders, we have recently undertaken the Big Health and Wellbeing Conversation which is being used to help shape Jersey’s Public Health Strategy. The conversation has been instrumental in finding out how people in the community are feeling and will be used with this report to continue our efforts in ensuring Islanders’ health and wellbeing is a priority. Last week, we also launched a new campaign to support Islanders through the winter pressures including threats of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
“Work is ongoing across Government to improve our mental health services and address the concerns the report has outlined.”
The full report can be found here.
