Supporting (Mental Health) Carers Better Network

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Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 13^th July 2009 issue of the SCB Email Bulletin

Aiming to contain information, news & key updates relevant to the field of Carers in Mental Health, it is also a way to communicate and share new initiatives, research, consultation, training and events.

The next one will usually be in 2-3 weeks time – earlier if something major requires it.

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INDEX

 

URGENT / IMMEDIATE

1. July 14 - All Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide Prevention

2. July 14 – London MH Carers Network – New Horizons: Consultation

 

3. By July 15 – Baroness Campbell Online questionnaire – Older People with MH issues into work

4. Up to July 15 - National Online debate - 'Community Health Champions'

 

WANTED

5. Carer question - Carers Experience of Electric Key Metering

6. FACTOR - Carers wanted for research

 

GENERAL

7. By Aug 19 – GP ‘Fit note’ consultation – 2MB, 65-page doc in PDF

8. by Sep 5 - Register for Get Moving Week (3-11 Oct) part of Time to Change

9. By Sep 15 - DH Consultation: Future Strategy to Support Adults with ASC (Autistic Spectrum Conditions)

 

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1. July 14 - All Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide Prevention

 

Please find attached a copy of the agenda for the next meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide Prevention which will be taking place at 1:00pm on Tuesday 14^th July at the Houses of Parliament.

 

We will be focussing on suicide prevention in prisons this time round and specifically on the recent publication of a report by Lord Bradley regarding his review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system. The report is available on the Department of Health website here:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_098694

 

The report concluded:

  - that too many offenders with mental health difficulties end up in prison without access to appropriate treatment.

  - that in many cases it would be more appropriate for such offenders to serve community sentences rather than jail terms.

  - that more needs to be done to ensure early identification and assessment of mental health problems to enable the earliest possible diversion from the criminal justice system to health and social care services where appropriate.

  - that improved training is needed at every level for all agencies dealing with vulnerable people suffering from mental health problems that end up in the criminal justice system.

 

Speakers will include Frances Crook, Director of the Howard League and Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust.

 

Any questions, please contact:

     Dominic O'Brien
    Parliamentary and Public Affairs Officer, with Samaritans
d.obrien@...

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2. July 14 – London MH Carers Network – New Horizons: Consultation

Tuesday 14^th July 2009    14.00 – 16.30   at the Kings Fund, 11-13 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0AN

 

Why Carers need to find out about New Horizons?

New Horizons is a new strategy that the DH says “will promote good mental health and well-being, whilst improving services for people who have mental health problems”. It replaces the National Service Framework for mental health which has driven forward mental health services for 10 years. The Government is consulting widely before launching the strategy later this year.

The focus on whole community mental well-being raises some key issues:

• Will services for people with severe mental illness continue to improve and be adequately resourced during a period of economic downturn?
• What is proposed to support carers?  The objectives for standard 6 of the NSF (support to carers) have  [only partly]  been achieved

Aim of the event

• To provide an introduction to New Horizons and discuss key issues for families, carers and mental health service users
• To find out about the consultation process and timetable and how carers can get involved

Speaker:  Alison Cooley – Head of Communications (DOH)

Who should attend?

·            Carers

·            Mental health professionals working with carers and families.

·            Particularly relevant for network members who are members of LITs/Mental Health Partnerships and other bodies, such as LINKs, Foundation Trusts, user-carer forums)  

To book your place or find out more please contact

leroy.owugah@... 

Tel: 0208 433 6861   Fax: 0208 433 7015

 

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3. By July 15 – Older People with MH issues into work - Baroness Campbell Online questionnaire

 

An invitation from Baroness Campbell of Surbiton DBE & Roger Berry MP to participate in RADAR's research project on high-flyers
We would like to ask for a few minutes of your time to complete a RADAR online survey,  which will identify factors enabling high-flyers living with ill-health, injury or disability get into & succeed in senior roles.
By sharing your experiences you can influence the behaviour of major employers, help others to climb the ladder to success and ensure that disabled people can make a full contribution to British society and the economy.
Please complete the online questionnaire at:
     http://tinyurl.com/qhw3uc
This is an unresearched issue and you can really make a difference by taking the short time needed to complete this questionnaire. The result of this research will be a report summarising our findings and exploring what individuals and organisations can do to enable people to thrive and progress in their chosen field.

If you would value networking opportunities or other career support this is an opportunity to tell us how to provide it.

Please do forward this email to anyone else you know who might contribute to this research, or might know someone who could. We'd like to reach as many people as possible, including those who may not identify as disabled.
Thank you,

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton DBE,
Roger Berry MP
Co-Chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Disability Group

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4. Up to July 15 - National Online debate - 'Community Health Champions'

 

If you have an interest in community empowerment in health and well-being, you may be interested in contributing to the following national debate.

The Altogether Better Programme is working with the Department of Health and the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA) to provoke a national online debate around ‘Community Health Champions’. The debate will begin on the 15th of June and last for four weeks.

We are exploring the scope and potential of building the capacity and confidence of individuals to become ‘Community Health Champions’ through voluntary activities to improve the health and well-being of their own communities. If the outcomes of this work not only improve the use and design of health services, but also sustainably improves health and well-being, why is this approach not systematically integrated into the way we deliver health and well-being services in this country?

(Please note that although the broad title we use is 'Community Health Champions', there is recognition that there are many other titles, e.g. 'educator', 'activator' etc. It is not the name but the common empowering approach which is key in this context).

We hope this will help to gather evidence on the scale and scope of activities across the country and help to develop a framework for moving to a situation where Community Health Champions are genuinely understood and valued by decision-makers and integrated into the way we tackle health inequalities in this country.

To help to ensure this debate is useful and moves us forward, we will need a wide range of contributions. This could involve a commentary or adding a document/paper to the site. We would like to hear from Community Health Champions, participation leads, officers, delivery agents, strategic commissioners, elected members policy-makers and academics. Once the debate is finished, we will use the information to shape a national event in November. All contributors will receive a free invitation to this event. 

This is a real one-off window of opportunity to raise the profile, understanding and support for one of the key potential contributors to unlocking the challenges around reducing health inequalities and civic participation. Please pass on this email to your relevant networks and mailing lists as appropriate.

Instructions for Joining the Communities of Practice website and contributing to this National Debate:

To join the Communities of Practice, please visit http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/, click on ‘register’ and enter your details as requested. Once registered, search for ‘healthy communities’ and apply to join the Healthy Communities Communities of Practice. If you have any difficulties in registering please contact Katrina Cottrill Katrina.cottrill@....

The 'Community Health Champions' discussion forum will start on Monday the 15th of June and continue to the 15th of July.

If you have any general queries, please contact:
Roz Davies (Altogether Better Programme Director)
Email: roz.davies@...
Website: http://www.altogetherbetter.org.uk/

 

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5. Carer question - Carers Experience of Electric Key Metering

 

Key metering is a big issue for many carers, you have to choose between heat and maybe food.

I think we need to do something for carers who are on key metering.

 

What are your experiences ?

Do you have any ideas what we can do ?

 

June Tag, Carer

Answers please to:   carersunite@...

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6. FACTOR - Carers wanted for research

 

FACTOR is currently introducing carers into Clinical Research Groups and study teams.

We are getting a growing number of requests for carer involvement from research teams

in the Institute of Psychiatry, and from mental health and voluntary sector agencies.

We try to find out:

   · How will carers be involved?

   · How will the team explain the research and its language to carers?

   · Will they take on what carers are saying, and will it make a difference?

Research teams are not usually able to answer these questions in advance - the

relationship with carers develops when they seen how their research can benefit from

carers being involved.

 

Key areas now are:

    Impact Programme: The Impact team is researching the physical health problems associated with

schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

    Carers’ Research Priorities: The Carers’ Research Priorities document draws on the workshops in our 2008 ‘Factor

Us In’ conference, meetings with carers support groups, and a survey of FACTOR Network members, with a literature review. FACTOR found that carers were interested in research into the causes of and treatments for mental ill health, and problems in communication with professionals. It will soon be posted on the MHRN website.

    Involving a more representative group of carers: We need to develop a more representative group of carers including people who are happy using email, so that they can communicate easily with us and with research teams.

 

Opportunity to participate in research - Service users’ and family members’

views about genetic research

 

Training Opportunity

We can book you on to a one day training provided by NIHR Clinical Research Network.

Currently they are offering the Introductory Guide to Mental Health Research for Service Users and Carers.

 

Would you like to get involved in research?

Your involvement could be as little as taking part in a meeting once a month, discussing proposals for future research, or joining a research team working on current research. You will need to read documents and comment from your experience as a carer.

Please contact Geraldine Mason on geraldine.mason@... or ring our administrator on

0207 848 0644 and we will send you an application form.

 

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7. By Aug 19 – GP ‘Fit note’ consultation – 2MB, 65-page doc in PDF

 

The document, called Reforming the Medical Statement, is available online

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/reforming-the-medical-statement-consultation-28may2009.pdf

   It is a .PDF document – 2MB

Who this consultation is aimed at?  

 In developing the revised medical statement, the Government has consulted widely with GPs, employers and their representatives, health professionals (including experts and advisers), trade unions and other employee stakeholders.

We welcome the views of these groups and others with an interest in health and work issues.

 

Scope of Consultation : This consultation and the draft regulations apply to England, Scotland and Wales.

Duration of the Consultation

In line with Cabinet Office guidelines, the consultation on these Regulations will run for twelve weeks, beginning on 28 May 2009 and ending on 19 August 2009.

 

How to Respond

We would be grateful if you could send your comments on any aspect of the draft regulations to:

    Shelley Fuller, Medical Statement Consultation

    Department for Work and Pensions, Health, Work and Well-being Directorate

     2nd Floor, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London SW1H 9DA

Tel: 020 7449 5586

Fax: 020 7340 4340

Email: reforming-medicalstatement.consultation@...

 

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8. by Sep 5 - Register for Get Moving Week (3-11 Oct) part of Time to Change

 

Get involved with Time to Change’s Get Moving week 2009 and get active to fight the discrimination around mental health problems.

 

Get Moving week (3 to 11 October) challenges mental health discrimination by bringing people together at activity events. It is through social contact between people with and without mental health problems where stigma can be broken down.

 

Run your own Get Moving physical activity event with the support of the

    Time to Change toolkit downloadable from www.time-to-change.org.uk/toolkit 

       where you can also order free promotional materials.

Register your events online at www.time-to-change.org.uk/GMeventregistration  by 5 September.

 

For support in running events you can also contact 020 7034 2772 or email getmoving@...

 

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9. By Sep 15 - DH Consultation: Future Strategy to Support Adults with ASC (Autistic Spectrum Conditions)

 

Dear Colleagues

 

I am writing to you to ask you and your associate organisations and members to participate in the national consultation on services for adults with autistic spectrum conditions.

 

I am sure you are aware that the Department of Health is currently consulting on a future strategy for adults with ASC. The consultation document considers the vision for services for adults with ASC and identifies five key themes - health, choice and control, employment and training, social inclusion, and awareness raising and training. The Government is interested in hearing a wide range of views about how adults with autistic spectrum conditions can be supported to live full and inclusive lives, maximising their independence and well-being.

 

The consultation runs until 15 September 2009. For your information, further details, including copies of the consultation document, can be found by following the link below:

 

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_098587

 

Responding to the consultation

Respondents are invited to complete the questionnaire included in the consultation document and return it to:

• Contact:    Adult ASC Strategy Consultation
• Address:    Department of Health, Room 124, Wellington House, 133 – 155 Waterloo Rd, London SE1 8UG

 

The project is supported by an Expert Reference Group comprising people with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC), family, carers and health and social care professionals involved in front line delivery of services.  In addition to the consultation and subsequent strategy we are spearheading activity in a number of areas that will enable us to understand and meet the needs of adults with ASC; and drive service improvement.  These

include:

   Addressing issues relating to the collection of data on adults with ASC;

   Research on the prevalence of autism among adults;

   Research into the transition of young people with autism to adult services;

   Evidence-based good practice guidance on choice and control from the Social Care Institute of Excellence;

   Work with professional bodies to take action to address training issues, e.g. the work being taken forward by Skills for Care on new knowledge

      sets to support people with ASC;

   Links with the implementation of the learning disability strategy, Valuing People Now, which will secure improved support for adults with autism who also have a learning disability.

 

We are also taking forward a range of initiatives aimed at children which are designed to benefit the way services are commissioned and delivered for everyone. These include:

   The Child Health Strategy with its focus on early engagement and early intervention;

   Aiming High for Disabled Children to transform services for disabled children, including those with autism;

   Increased funding to the Autism Education Trust (AET) to improve commissioning of services for children with autism;

   Improvements to training and support for professionals working in mainstream education; and

   New regulations and statutory guidance for Children and Young People’s Plans.

 

I attach two articles (long and short versions) for circulation via newsletters or posting on websites advising people how they can participate in the strategy.  I would be really grateful if you would use this opportunity to contribute to the developing strategy but also to encourage others to participate.

 

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need any additional information.

 

Thank you

 

Kate Hardy

Project Manager, Social Care - Policy and Innovation - Dignity and Quality Unit 124, Department of Health Wellington House

     Tel: 020 7972 4039   01206 264063 (Tuesday and Wednesday)

Kate.Hardy@...

 

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Email: phil.partridge@...

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