Table 4.

Barriers for professionals referring young people to online resources

Theme	Details
Professional’s awareness and knowledge	Knowledge/awareness of what online resources are available for young people Remembering the different resources that young people can be referred to Poor reviews/feedback on a particular resource or not having heard of a resource at all Time to explore what is available online
Nature of the online environment	The internet is vast and the speed at which online information and resources change Potential to signpost young people to out of date links Can be an unsafe place for a vulnerable young person The constantly evolving nature of young people’s relationship the internet means it is hard to know what the current popular website/app is for young people Quality Assurance: Ensuring the robustness of resources and frequency of monitoring of online forums/chat rooms is a problem, which links to how we keep our young people safe online. When young people and their families are hopeful and are searching for answers it is difficult to make sure they get correct and trustworthy information; there is so much false/fake information on the internet.
Regulations and governance	NHS bureaucracy and barriers to accessing certain online platforms, e.g., Facebook. Individual Trust regulations for use of the internet Uncertainty about how some of the charity’s online communities are regulated and governed
Vulnerability of young people	Vulnerability of some young people can lead them to misinterpret information Worry young people will look at irrelevant or misconstrued information. How you manage psychological distress in an online area. Different age ranges of young people have different requirements – younger teenagers would want and need to look at different things to young adults, who need to be recognized as consenting adults.