ARU Final Report

Full Report – May 2021 27 mental health services, is really important for young people with disabilities during the pandemic. Many spoke about feeling let down by mental health services and often having to reach crisis point before support was offered. Though contact with family members and social services was generally good, contact with friends had often moved to online platforms. Similarly, many young people were now engaging with school, college, university, or training online and some needed support with this technology. However, consistency of service provision was a key theme identified in the data from young people about the supports they received from services. For those who recommended improvements it was in relation to consistency: It was useful – hard to know how it is useful, because I need it anyway (owing to physical disabilities). Could have been improved – more consistency of carers. While those who spoke about what was working for them with the supports they received, also mentioned consistency of the service as fundamental: Contact throughout the pandemic has been constant with my leaving care worker and also with my supported accommodation provider. All the support has been useful, not sure how to improve upon it. Our findings therefore raise issues about consistency and level of support as well as the opportunity for support being equal for all. We therefore suggest, that as well as ensuring that all young people with disabilities have someone to talk to about their mental health and wellbeing, that this support is consistent and available to all. Furthermore, accommodation and education providers, as well as social care need to provide additional support specifically around emotional wellbeing for young people with disabilities to ensure they are feeling supported both during and beyond the pandemic. Within particular supports, such as social services or mental health provisions, this contact should wherever possible be face-to-face. When asked about anxiety and low mood, a range of emotions were expressed by the young people in our study from boredom to anxiety. Theis et al. (2021) report that not attending schools has contributed to a reduction in physical activity levels and a negative impact on mental health, including poorer behaviour, mood, fitness, and regression in social skills and learning among children and young adults with disabilities. Furthermore Toste et al. (2021) emphasise the importance of addressing the psychological wellbeing of young people with disabilities during the pandemic. Our study also showed that some young people were feeling lonely as a result of Covid, andTheOffice for National Statistics (ONS) (2020) reported that up to the year ending March 2019, the proportion of disabled people (13.9 per cent) in England over the age of 16, were four times more likely to feel lonely “often or always” when compared to their peers without disabilities (3.8 per cent). Given these figures are pre the pandemic it is likely that many more young people with disabilities have been feeling lonely during the pandemic when compared to their peers without disabilities. In our study the restrictions of the pandemic were reported as hindering contact with family and friends which inadvertently impacted the mood of the young people. Some reported losing contact with friends they did not see regularly despite their use of online platforms. Others described frustration when people broke social distancing rules which further added to their anxiety in some way. Young people with disabilities who are living alone should therefore be supported to form support bubbles with other young people in similar situations to ease the experience of boredom and isolation during lockdowns. It is possible that a potential lift in mood, as a result of this support, could positively impact other areas of their lives including education participation.