Supporting children’s emotional wellbeing in the early years promotes healthy development, builds resilience, and reduces the risk of mental health difficulties later in life. Health visitors play a central role in supporting child mental health, working with families to identify early signs of emotional or developmental difficulties and offering tailored guidance. They help parents build strong, responsive relationships with their children, promote secure attachment, and support positive parenting practices that strengthen protective factors. Through their holistic assessment of families’ needs and identification of need, they also play a key role in connecting families to wider support and specialist services where this is needed.
iHV Resources
📃 Good Practice Points and Parent Tips
Developed in collaboration with topic experts, health visitors, and other professionals, our resources draw on the latest available evidence at the time of publication. Each resource is produced through a robust quality assurance process and peer reviewed to ensure accuracy, relevance, and strong alignment with health visiting practice.
External Resources
NHS: Every Mind Matters – Children’s Mental Health
Offers practical tips for supporting children’s emotional wellbeing, spotting early signs of struggle, maintaining routines, and promoting open conversation.
A-Z guides on mental health conditions, advice on speaking to professionals, and a Parents Helpline — plus support for self-care tips for carers.
An easy-to-navigate charity site with trusted content for parents and professionals covering a wide range of mental health and behavioural topics in children and teens.
Anna Freud is a charity supporting children and young people mental health.
Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity.
Little Sparks Big Starts - Kindred²
A suite of educational resources that aim to raise public awareness and understanding of children’s brain development.
