Walk and talk - Northamptonshire

The challenge of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions have led to an innovative approach to children’s mental health from school nurses in Northamptonshire.


The challenge of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions have led to an innovative approach to children’s mental health from school nurses in Northamptonshire. When COVID-19 hit, they had to suddenly step away from doing face-to-face sessions with young people. Although they were able to maintain support through a text messaging service, phone and video chat, the physical connection was missing. 

They came up with the idea of a socially distanced ‘walk and talk’ in local parks, The sessions helped them gain a deeper assessment of children’s mood and how they were coping physically, and address those issues in a more personal way. Most importantly, the nurses have had positive feedback from parents about the invaluable support this has offered during the pandemic. 

Eva Trkulja, Specialist Community Public Health Nurse, School Nurse, said: “If students are struggling with emotional distress and they don’t get the support they need at an early time, that can often lead to more serious or worrying mental health concerns. So, we needed to come up with a solution that meant we could meet with students face to face. We found local parks offered a real sense of tranquillity, which really helped.”