- ABOUT -

eNurture Network - UKRI Funded

The eNurture Network was a UKRI funded network that fostered new collaborations to promote children and young people’s mental health in a digital world. Over a five-year period (ending in August 2023), the network brought together academic researchers, professional advisers and partners from public, private and third sector organisations.

As a network of cross-disciplinary professionals, eNurture will:

 
eNurture Advisory Board member, Dr Ruth Sellers, outlines what eNurture is all about in a presentation for the National Centre for Mental Health, Cardiff (February 2021)
 
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EXPLORE

Explore how the digital environment is changing how children interact with family, school and peers and what these changes mean for children’s mental health.

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DEVELOP

Develop strategies to recognise and disentangle digital risks from opportunities in intervention programmes designed to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people.

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CONNECT

Connect the latest evidence with emerging practice models involving digital platforms and interventions so as to reduce negative mental health trajectories for children and young people.

New Environments - New Knowledge

eNurture believes it is vital to bring the latest multi-disciplinary evidence to bear on policy and practice. This will help answer the recent media speculation linking mental ill-health and the use of digital technologies. More importantly, it will help policy makers and practitioners identify the significance for children’s mental health of a growing range of new technologies impacting on the reality of children’s social worlds, self-expression and developing identity.

The network will engage a collaborative, cross-sectoral approach to facilitating impacts by directly engaging academic, charity, industry, policy and front-line beneficiaries (e.g. families, parents, schools, teachers, children and young people). It will offer new funding opportunities to explore and stimulate ideas and initiatives. It will also commission innovative research to inform efforts to improve mental health outcomes for children and young people growing up in a digital age.

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A Strategy of Exploration for Better Understanding

QUESTION

What new practice models are required to promote effective interventions and positive mental health trajectories for youth?

RESEARCH

How does the digital environment intersect with traditional influences on children – family, school, peers?

DESIGN

How could the design and deployment of digital platforms and interventions better promote youth mental health in the UK?

IMPLEMENT

How do we equip parents, teachers, practitioners, policy makers and youth themselves with information, support and resources that promote positive mental health in a contemporary (and future) digital age?

An Opportunity to Provide Evidence Based Support and Resources

Our main challenge and opportunity is to equip parents, teachers, practitioners, policy makers and young people with evidence, support and resources that promote positive mental health – for today’s generation of children and young people (tomorrow’s generation of adults and parents) .