How Sonder supports young people

We assess whether young people have the understanding and maturity to make decisions about their own health. Generally, a minor is capable of independently consenting to or refusing their medical treatment when they achieve a sufficient level of understanding and intelligence to enable them to fully understand what is proposed.

Sonder’s clinicians will decide on a case-by-case basis whether a minor has the appropriate legal capacity to consent. Legal capacity is considered in line with the proposed treatment. You need to be able to understand the nature and effect of the decision to consent, and demonstrate their understanding by communicating this in some way.

Where appropriate, a parent or legal guardian may provide consent on behalf of the minor. Sonder will seek to contact the parent or guardian on the minor’s behalf when appropriate. For example, a 15-year-old might have capacity to make decisions about a GP visit but require parental involvement for major mental health treatment decisions.

What Sonder provides:

Young people can contact Sonder 24/7 for:

• Medical support: Registered Nurses provide clinical assessment, health advice and guidance on whether urgent care is needed
• Safety support: Help if you're concerned about your personal safety
• Emotional support: Care Specialists provide immediate support for stress, anxiety, difficult feelings, and challenging situations
• Urgent help: If you're in crisis, we'll connect you to emergency services immediately

Access: Sonder’s terms and conditions require parental consent for minors to download and use the Sonder offering, which can be accessed at the login screen when registering. It’s also important that you and your people supply up-to-date next of kin or emergency contact details in the app for minors: their parents, guardians or equivalent.

Specific to mental health support, Sonder and its network of providers does not provide psychological therapy and counselling to those under the age of 14 and 9 months.

This is a deliberate clinical decision. Young people at this age require support from specialists trained in adolescent development and youth-focused mental health care. Services like Headspace, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), school counsellors and Kids Helpline have this expertise.

When you contact Sonder about mental health, here's what happens:

1. A Registered Nurse or Care Specialist completes a clinical assessment using the Manchester Triage risk assessment
2. Based on your needs and risk level, we determine the most appropriate referral pathway
3. We connect you with a youth-oriented external service that matches your needs
4. We can work with your parent/guardian to ensure you receive the right support if you consent

Referral pathways depend on your situation:

• Immediate crisis/emergency risk → Emergency services (000) or crisis teams (CATT, CAMHS)
• Ongoing mental health support → Headspace, CAMHS, school counsellor, university youth clinics
• Struggling but stable → Kids Helpline, ReachOut, Beyond Blue, school counsellor, SANE, Lifeline
• Medical concerns → Your GP, school health centre, hospital if needed

How we make the referral:

For serious or complex situations, we'll do a "warm handover" contacting the service directly to introduce you so they're expecting you and understand your situation. For simpler situations, we'll provide clear instructions on how to contact the service yourself. We may follow up to ensure you've made contact and understand next steps.

Support for parents:

Parents can also access Sonder's mental health support for your own needs. Many parents benefit from talking to a clinician about parenting a young person with mental health challenges. This support is separate from your child's care and has its own confidentiality.