Mental health concerns in children are increasing year-on-year, further impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. 1-in-8 children now receive a formal diagnosis however it is estimated that 1.2M children would benefit from early intervention which they do not currently receive. A clinically led collaboration we knew that a digital solution that could scale the best evidence support was needed.
Embers the Dragon is a digital platform designed for use by children, parents and teachers taking a systemic approach to emotional development by providing resources aimed at the wider system around children to ensure a consistent and effective approach.
The program is made up of high quality animated episodes for children to watch. Each episode is aimed at a common mental health concern with evidence based learning for the children built into the storyline. Each episode is accompanied by a expert advice video for parents where experienced clinical staff offer insight & advice for parents to support them to use the program and downloadable resources to use off screen with children. Each episode is also accompanied by three EYFS lesson plans for teachers to use to consolidate learning. A randomised study completed with the National Institute of Health Research showed that 98% of test group parents showed an improvement in parental response in relation to effective parenting styles.
In 2020 the program was awarded two research grants from the National Institute of Health Research and Innovate UK to explore the effect of the program which showed statistically significant results in the improvement of mental health outcomes for children and parents. The program was then featured internationally by Innovate UK as 1 of 4 programs of excellence and was presented at the international innovation showcase in Russia.
The program is also featured in the Patient Information Forum Guide to Producing Health Information for Children and Young People.
We utilise Social Media in order to expand interaction with the animated episodes which are free to view and have had over 222,000 views and 1.7m impressions since August 2020 with feedback received from as far as India and Canada
The animated series can be viewed free online with school and parent resources commissioned at a local level. For more information email us at hello@embersthedragon.co.uk
