Category: Mental Health

Mental Health Day

10th October 2020

This year’s theme is; ‘Mental health for all’

Mental health can affect anybody at any time. Mental health day is about showing support for better mental health. Why not take some time today for your own wellbeing.

Mind offers some top tips to improve your mental health and wellbeing:

  • only try what feels comfortable
  • give yourself time to figure out what works for you, going at your own pace
  • take small steps. Pick one or two things that feel achievable at first, before moving on to try other ideas.

So why not get involved:

  • have a virtual tea and chat with a friend
  • talk about your and your family’s wellbeing and create plans to involve everyone’s ideas
  • get moving for mental health
  • celebrate your differences

To read some personal stories about World Mental Health Day click here.

For more ideas or to find out more visit the Mental Health Foundation.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Support resources for challenging times

More than six months after the Covid-19 pandemic began many of us are feeling exhausted, anxious and overwhelmed. Now, more than ever, it’s so important to take some time to look after your wellbeing. King’s Fund have put together some useful resources, from ‘wellbeing plans’ to useful toolkits.

Click here to access.

They also offer some top tips for dealing with anxiety and encourage you to think about your breathing:

  • Notice your breathing.  
  • In noticing your breathing connect with how you are feeling physically. 
  • Take a moment to take some deep and slow breaths in and out and count them as you do this. 
  • Ask yourself how aware you are of your breathing patterns.   
  • Our breathing helps inform us of how stressed and/or anxious we might be if we allow ourselves to notice it.  
  • A greater awareness of our breathing can help anchor ourselves in our roles as leaders in these difficult to navigate times.   

Managing anxiety: breathing | The King’s Fund

Mental Health Campaign

Every Mind Matters campaign launched

Public Health England have launched a new campaign – Every Mind Matters, to support the well being of children, young people and their carers. The Covid pandemic has impacted everyone and research shows that children are more anxious, worried and lonely than ever before. These new stresses could cause harm to the mental health of the young generation.

This new advice supports parents and carers to recognise signs that their child may be struggling with their mental health and provides support to help them maintain good quality well being.

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/childrens-mental-health/

Festival of celebrations

A week celebrating our achievements over the year

Hosted by Chief Executive, Caroline Donovan and her team of directors, the festivals have focused on the improvements made since the CQC inspection and the commitment of staff during this unprecedented year. What soon became clear, was the overwhelming sense of teamwork, commitment and dedication from each and every staff member, both clinical and non-clinical.

Each day celebrated a different network including;

  • Community and well-being
  • Children and young people
  • South Cumbria
  • Mental Health
  • Corporate services

What was evident was how each team adapted to the new way of working, ensuring safety was at the forefront of everything. Even through the pandemic, support has still been offered to patients and families, providing excellent patient care each and every day. Every network has embraced the use of digital software, from attend anywhere to Microsoft Teams, allowing people and patients to stay connected.

Congratulations to all those individuals and teams who were nominated and of course to the winners. To watch the videos click here.

Digital CBT and improving mental health

Treating insomnia

Insomnia is the UK’s most common health complaint, and if left untreated can cause more serious mental health problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidelines recommend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia. The issue is that a rise in cases leads to longer waiting lists, or patients self medicating.

However digital CBT may be the answer. One intervention – Sleepio – provides digital CBT for insomnia from the click of a button. Sleepio is highly evidence-based and is backed by 12 Randomised Controlled Trials.

In a recent project, results were promising, showing high levels of engagement with patients, a high recovery rate and improvements in mental health and wellbeing, along with a reduced cost to the NHS.

To find out more and read their case study click here.

NHS staff can also access the resource for free during the pandemic. Sign up here.

NHS Reset

A campaign to shape what the health and care system could look life post COVID

Mental health services have faced unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19. They quickly and effectively moved to different ways of working to protect service users and staff. As we move to the next phase of the pandemic, we expect demand for mental health support to increase and to remain high for some time. This will have serious implications on resourcing and staff wellbeing.

This report from the NHS Reset campaign considers what mental health services need to prepare for, for the expected surge in demand. It also highlights how the health and care system can ‘reset’ the way care and support are planned and delivered in aftermath of COVID-19.

To find out more about the campaign click here.