Sunderland World Mental Health Week October 2013 WMH… · Christine Brace - Community CAMHS Jolene Dunbar ... enjoy and that suits your level of mobility and fitness. 3. Take notice…Be

Sunderland

World Mental Health Week

October 2013

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Contents The Partners…………………………………………………………………………………………3

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………...…………………….4

The Message………………………………………………………………………………………...5

Aim, objectives and outcomes…………………………………………………………….…..6

Sunderland WMHD road shows ………………………………………………………………7

Saturday events…………………………………………………..……………………………11

Next Steps…………………………………………………………………………………………..12

3 Trish Sullivan - Promoting Health Volunteer

Anna Gillingham - Sunderland Volunteer Centre

Rob Braines - Promoting Health Volunteer

Jackie Nixon – Public Health Locality Team, Sunderland City council Jacqui Reeves – Washington Mind Dorothy Gardiner – Sunderland Mind Christine Brace - Community CAMHS

Jolene Dunbar - Sunderland City Council Library Services

Helen Clay - Mental Health Matters (Sunderland Service User Voice) Vera Maw – Sunderland Carers Centre Wendy Hadlington – Washington Mind Yvonne Hudson - Health Resources/Improvement Team for South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland

Special thanks to all of the volunteers involved, members of the Sunderland

Wellbeing Network, ImagineCreateSolutions for the animation videos and IT

support and Elsmere for the tablecloths

The events would not have been possible without their contribution.

The Working Group

The Working Group

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Executive Summary

World Mental Health Day takes place on the 10th

October every year, and has been in existence

since 1992, started by the World Federation for Mental Health. Since 2009 it was agreed that local

promotion of World Mental Health Day would be in the context of promoting the message of five a

day for health and happiness. The Foresight report – mental capital and wellbeing (2008) gave the

conclusion of 400 scientists that five simple steps incorporated into daily life can fortify mental

health. Locally we decided to have World Mental Health Week (WMHD) with a main aim to raise

public awareness about mental health issues. The week promoted open discussion of mental

disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services.

In the UK mental illness now accounts for more disability-adjusted life year or DALYs lost per year than any other health condition1, 20% of the total burden of disease in the UK was attributable to mental illness (including suicide), compared with 17.2% for cardiovascular diseases and 15.5% for cancer. No other condition exceeded 10%.

The theme of World Mental Health Day in 2013 was “Mental health and older adults” so we ensured some of our resources and activities appealed to older people, including 5 a day room thermometers.

The partners came together to work collaboratively to coordinate week long activities for World

Mental Health Week 2013 in Sunderland, the focus being on encouraging people to think about

our ‘Five-a-day for health and happiness’ - actions and behaviours which can lead to feelings

which are crucial to wellbeing, such as happiness, contentment and enjoyment.

Events

Road shows round the five areas of the city, using non-traditional venues eg. Super Markets, promoting and engaging with members of the public.

Event in city centre on active bus engaging and promoting with members of the

public tackling stigma and discrimination of mental health and having conversations. Event in city library taking family approach to engage and promote positive

wellbeing. Walk for wellbeing in Mowbray Park. Conference

Overall engagement was estimated with over 3000 members of the public getting the

message of Five-a-Day for Health and Happiness. 1 World Health Organisation (WHO) calculates the cost or burden of disease using a composite non-

monetary measure, the disability-adjusted life year or DALY, which combines morbidity and premature

mortality in a single figure.

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The Message

A summary of effective and cost effective interventions to improve mental health and

wellbeing has been produced for NHS SoTW by national expert Lynne Friedli (available on

request). There is also good quality evidence for the ‘Five Ways to Well being’: Connect;

Be active; Take notice; Keep learning; Give (New Economics Foundation 2009).

Five a Day for Health and Happiness

1. Connect…With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and

neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day. 2. Be active…Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and that suits your level of mobility and fitness. 3. Take notice…Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice

the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating

lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling.

Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you. 4. Keep learning…Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun. 5. Give…Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, as linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

More recently in a report produced by the Mental health Strategic Partnership “Building

Resilient Communities” sets out evidence for each of the 5 ways for wellbeing, building

interventions and activities locally is sound investment.

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Aim, Objectives and Outcomes

Aim Partners came together to work collaboratively to coordinate week long activities for World Mental Health Week 2013 in Sunderland, the focus being on encouraging people to think about our ‘Five-a-day for health and happiness’ - actions and behaviours which can lead to feelings which are crucial to wellbeing, such as happiness, contentment and enjoyment. Objectives

o To arrange Roadshows around the City and using non-traditional venues reaching out into all areas of the city

o Utilising local volunteers to engage with members of the public within city

centre on activate bus.

o To hold family event and engage with children and parents/carers.

o Walk for wellbeing in Mowbray Park to promote ‘be active’

o Hold No Health without Mental Health Conference Outcomes

o Raised awareness of mental health and contributed to tackling stigma and

discrimination through conversations with approximately 3,000 people.

o Promoted five a day for health and happiness to improve emotional health and wellbeing which is a set of evidence based public mental health messages aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of the whole population.

o Further developed relationships with partners, which was key to the success of

the weeklong event and reaching out into the five areas of the city.

o Raise the awareness of the wellbeing directory paper copies and online www.wellbeinginfo.org

o Raise the profile of ‘A Life Worth Living’ which us a local suicide prevention

campaign within our communities

o Raise awareness of the link between physical health and mental health with commissioners, partners and service users and carers.

7 The road show started in the Coalfields and moved round the city each day until Friday. There

was one lead worker each day with local volunteers supporting. They set up information stands

and engaged with members of the public. The five venues were well used community venues so

there were lots of opportunities for engagement with local people. The resources for five a day

for health and happiness were well received by all members of the public. It did highlight that in

some areas of the city the message was not known and only knew of five a day in relation to

fruit and vegetables.

Monday 7th October – in the Coalfields

Washington Mind staff went along to the Gentoo Skyline Centre in Houghton-le-Spring to spread

the word of 5-a-day for Health and Happiness. There was a fantastic turn out with staff engaging

with 299 people on the day. Attendees were asked if they had heard about the 5-a-Day for

Health and Happiness. Here is a sample of what they told us:

“Yes, I’ve heard of 5 a day. I make sure I eat

plenty of fruit and veg.”

‘No, is that a bit like eating lots of fruit

and vegetables.”

The z-card proved to be a useful tool for explaining the

5-a-day for Health and Happiness and most attendees

stated that they would try to complete one of the 5-a-day

messages every day and take notice of how they feel.

WMHD 2013 - Road Shows across Sunderland City

Tuesday 8th & Thursday 10th October

Sainsbury’s North & Asda East

Public health locality team and local volunteers utilised

non-traditional venues to engage with members of the

public who are harder to reach and don’t particularly attend

local groups. We targeted the North and East of the city

using Sainsbury’s and Asda as venues.

We engaged with approximately 350 people over

the two days, engaging in conversations about 5-a-day

for Health and Happiness and building them into everyday life.

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It was wonderful to see so many carers at our 'Feel Good' Event at the Carers' Centre on Tuesday 8th October.

The event was part of a week of events in Sunderland to celebrate World Mental Health Day.

Our event was focused on the health and happiness of carers and the aim was to help carers to learn more about how to have and maintain good mental health.

There were a variety of activities that carers could take part in including learning hand massage techniques, potting herbs and making bird feeders for the garden, Chi Kung (a gentle meditative exercise), good mood food information and recipes, and pamper sessions (therapies and manicures).

Carers were also given a 'Five-a-Day for Health and Happiness' goodie bag.

At the end of the event carers were asked to place their comments about the day on our 'Happy Tree'.

Some of the comments included:

"Lovely and relaxing day with great people."

"Had a lovely time today! Relaxing and mixing with friends. I'm going to try hand massage on my children. I'm sure they will love it."

"Lovely morning, really enjoyed time out relaxing. “Thank you to all the individuals and organisations

who were involved in making the day such a great success.

Tuesday 8th October – in the North ‘Feel Good’ Event

(Carer’s Centre)

The Planning group partners worked together to organise a conference after a suggestion from the Sunderland Mental Health User Voice (SMHUV) members. The theme for the conference followed on from work that the North East Mental Health Development Unit carried out looking at the relationship between mental and physical health for people with severe mental illness. The conference was a great success with seventy two attendees. The Mayor opened the day, an overview of the work and presentations from mental health service users using animation and videos to tell their own stories of how exercise had improved their mental health and wellbeing. An exercise demonstration was well received along with a GPs perspective, carer’s film, and a very popular health quiz.

Wednesday 9th October – in the East (Winter Gardens) No Health without Mental Health Conference

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Walk for Wellbeing (Mowbray Park)

Conference Evaluation

From the 72 attendees 99% indicated the conference had met their

expectation with 50% giving highest score. A sample of the responses

from the evaluation questions are:

Please identify one thing you have learned Thank there is a lot of help out there for mental health Mental health is not a thing to be ashamed of Learned loads off the quiz How important physical exercise is for me, walking or playing with the kids Books on prescription are available How will you use the information you have gained today? To share with family and friends To share with health advocates and staff in my workplace information on mental health services. Every day I feel more equipped to answer questions on what’s happening in and around the mental health sector. Become a health champion! Signpost more Share with colleagues/friends and family Anything you would have liked to have seen or heard more about today? More videos More focus on young people mental health No the content was very good and pitched correctly for the variety of services. Any other comments you would like to add Thank you for this opportunity to be a part of such enriching activity and day. The information is going to be most beneficial. Very well organised and informative, refreshments and buffet excellent Loved the idea of happiness manifesto and encouraging everyone to get active to improve wellbeing.

Following the Conference some of the participants

enjoyed a stroll around Mowbray Park. Outdoor

exercise (Ecotherapy) can help people to boost their

resilience to developing a mental health problem;

and having it available as a treatment option provides

greater choice to people experiencing mental health

problems.

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Washington Mind staff and volunteers welcomed approximately 150

attendees to the new home of Washington Mind, The Life House.

The 5 a day messages were shared at the event and attendees were

informed that activities and services taking place within the new building

will all follow the 5-a-day for health and happiness theme.

Thursday 10th October – in Washington (The Life House)

The Tea Room will gives an opportunity to connect with

others and was well used during the event! There was an

Indian cookery demonstration too, so attendees also learnt

something new!

Tai Chi taster

sessions took place

throughout the event -

Exercise classes will

be taking place in the

Community Hall

offering the

opportunity to be

active.

The craft activity tasters proved to be very

popular! Attendees enjoyed making sugar

paste flowers in our new craft and group rooms.

These activities covered the majority of

attendees 5-a-day for Health and Happiness!

The 5-a-day for Health

and Happiness were

displayed around the

building and attendees

were given the

opportunity to tell us

about their 5-a-day!

Friday 11th October – in the West – Sandhill Library

The Public Health Locality Team were able to engage with different

groups within the library setting, members of the public who were

engaging in courses.

We engaged with 75 people and promoted the 5-a-day for Health

and Happiness message. We also had a group of young people

who came downstairs from the school engaged in conversations

and learned how to build the 5-a-day for Health and Happiness into

their everyday lives.

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World Mental Health Day at the City Library Community CAMHS co-ordinated a day of activities at the Library, aimed at children and young people. The event was well-supported, seeing around 45 children and young people, along with their parents and other family members. Our oldest visitor was a 92 year old woman from Boldon, who was a pleasure to speak to. Our theme was nature and we built our activities around the 5 a day for Health and Happiness. There was a tree of life for Connect; hopscotch and a throwing activity for Be Active; an underwater quiz for Keep Learning; some insects and creatures from Coast to Coast Exotics so that our visitors could Take Notice and there was a bulb/seed planting activity for Give – so that people could write a label and give the plant as a gift. Paula Wilkinson was also on hand to make balloon creations for our visitors and were very popular. The evaluations gathered were very positive with none saying they had not enjoyed the day and from the 45 returned evaluations, 41 scored the event 10 out of 10 for enjoyment. The main comments were that there were varied activities; lots for children to do; bite size chunks of information; and that we made learning fun and happy. Thank you to Christine Brace, Anne Loadman, Helen Nash, Lynette Dodsworth and Andrew Local from Community CAMHS for making the day run smoothly.

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The planning group decided after evaluation from last year to use

the same approach that had worked so well in engaging the public

the year before. The active bus was again used as a base for in

the middle of the city centre. This was an excellent way of using

resources; the bus was in town from 9.30am till 2.30pm. Over the

five hours we had local volunteers with workers who distributed

wellbeing bags of goodies and engaged in conversations with

members of the public.

However this year we were hindered by the very wet and cold

weather given that the public were hurrying along to get out of the

rain – that said the team still engaged with over 1000 people albeit

the conversations weren’t as lengthy as the previous year when

the weather was better.

Saturday 12th October events – Sunderland City Centre

Next Steps

Points for the next Planning Meeting

CAMHS staff suggested more activities for children and families. A larger venue which will be

discussed at the Planning Meeting. A couple of people floating and directing people to the library

More volunteer support, ask Health Champions if they want to be volunteers for WMHW

Project leads need to have contact numbers and identify for taking the lead in the first meeting.

Community News: Advertise the week’s events, Sunderland City Council Intranet Page

Contact employers to see if their volunteers will man a stand if we provide leaflets and

information.

Identify community contacts. Some may want to be involved at an earlier stage

Refreshing of Steering Group at first meeting and looking at people’s commitment

In conclusion there is clear evidence and a convincing economic case for investment in public mental health. Every local area should be supporting it’s community to take part in interventions and activities that promote wellbeing, build social connections and improve psychological coping skills – building community resilience and ‘future-proofing’ wellbeing. In particular a targeted approach is needed to support people living in most difficult circumstances. If we are going to build community resilience in such challenging times, it is essential that we make every contact count for wellbeing.