MindEd - online learning

Education & Professional Development team

These free, practical eLearning sessions help adults identify and understand children and young people with mental health issues whenever and wherever they are needed.

MindEd - eLearning to support young healthy minds

With three-quarters of adult mental disorders in evidence by the age of 21, effective early intervention can be essential in preventing the development of ill health and disability.

About

MindEd is an online learning and advice resource for anyone interested in, or concerned about, the mental health of children and teenagers. Developed in partnership by experts and parents, it entirely funded by the UK government, through Health Education England, and is therefore completely free and open to use.

You do not need to register to use the resources, but if you choose to register you will be able to track your learning, which may be useful for professional CPD etc. Registration is free and open to anyone. There is no pass or fail and no MindEd qualification, but several national bodies, including the RCPCH, use MindEd to support their own education programmes.

It comes in the following 'flavours'.

For professionals and volunteers

This contains over 300 e-learning sessions, from the very basic to the very specialist. All sessions are open to every user.

The Universal, or Core, Content covers both normal development as well as all the recognised symptoms of poor mental health or development.

Other sections support a variety of training and development curricula, including school counselling and mental health professionals in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). All of this material, especially the Universal section, is suitable for teachers, etc.

There are a number of MindEd Learning Plans aimed at specific professionals, to suggest a brief programme of learning, including one for Schools in general.

Access MindEd

For families

This is also online learning but very open and much less directive. There is no user registration or tracked learning. Co-authored by parents and professionals, it picks up on topics of most interest to parents, carers or other family members who may be dealing with a child with problems.

There are around 30 topics, starting with ‘Should I be worried?’ and going on to deal with such issues as eating disorders, bullying and digital living. There also excellent sections on good parenting and communicating with your child.

The topics interlink, allowing you to explore at your own pace, with engaging pictures and short videos. Everything is accessible on mobile devices.

The MindEd for Families topics also link directly with the main MindEd eLearning where relevant, for more detailed reading.

The target reading age across the whole site is about 12 years old. Ever Families topic is also available from the site as a download in EasyRead form, aimed at a reading age of 8 years s old. These are ideal where the parent is using English as a second language.

Go to MindEd for Families

eLearning path for trainees

This path gives trainees the knowledge and confidence to discuss mental health concerns with young people and their families.

Covering sleep difficulties, unexplained physical problems, self-harm and eating problems, the learning path will be particularly helpful to ST1-5 paediatric trainees, specifically in relation to the Good Clinical Care Standard 8 of the paediatric curriculum.Start your free RCPCH online mental health e-learning today.

Go to eLearning path for trainees