Emotional Wellbeing Team Kent & Medway
Our school is part of the Emotional Wellbeing Team Kent/ Emotional Support Team Medway programme. The work of the Kent Emotional Wellbeing Teams (EWT) and Medway Emotional Support Teams (EST) can help families and schools improve emotional wellbeing and early access to support, and they do this in a variety of ways.
For more information about the teams, please see their website or talk with us at school about your young person’s needs and we can link in with the team to see where we can best seek support.
Kent and Medway Mental Health Support Teams | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust
The purpose of today’s email is to introduce an exciting support opportunity to families. The EWT/EST has an innovative offer, it is a parent-led anxiety intervention called OSI (Online Support and Intervention). OSI is delivered online with weekly calls from a trained practitioner. It is a flexible alternative to face-to-face anxiety interventions.
What is OSI?
OSI (Online Support and Intervention) is an online treatment for anxiety problems in children aged between 5 and 12 years old. Through eight modules (approx. 20-30min each), parents learn tools and techniques to help their child to overcome their problems with anxiety. This is achieved by helping the child to put their fears to the test so that children can learn new information about their fears and their ability to cope in feared situations. Parents are supported with a weekly telephone appointment from a trained practitioner and progress is tracked using routine outcome measures. A main feature of OSI is its flexibility - parents can complete these modules at any time using any device.
Who is suitable for OSI?
OSI is aimed at parents/carers of children between the ages of 5 and 12 years who have primary difficulties with anxiety. While many children may have co-occurring difficulties alongside anxiety, to be suitable for OSI, anxiety must be the main or primary difficulty. OSI is suitable to treat various forms of anxiety such as separation anxiety, specific phobias, generalised anxiety, and social anxiety difficulties. OSI is rarely used for panic disorders but may be considered; however, OSI is not suitable for children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For more information, please see website.
Next Steps:
If you are unsure if OSI is for you, please talk with us in school or read more on the website.
If you feel that OSI can help, please fill in a referral and meet with the team as soon as possible.
Kent and Medway Mental Health Support Teams - Self-Referral Options | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust