News & Events
- The first ever People’s Award for Dignity in Care 2009
The award is part of the Dignity in Care Campaign that aims to promote high quality services that respect people's dignity for all vulnerable individuals.This important new award is part of the Health & Social Care Awards and Sir Michael Parkinson & Phil Hope MP are both publicly supporting the award. The award is designed to allow the public to show their appreciation of those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide health or social care services that respects an individual’s dignity. Staff members can also apply for the award but their application will need to be supported by a member of the public. Nominations for this award close on March 6th.
For further information and to nominate someone, please visit the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement website
- The new amended version of the Headspace toolkit, commissioned by NIMHE, is now available on http://www.headspacetoolkit.org/
The new version takes account of the 2007 amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983. The toolkit is dedicated to young people who are inpatients of psychiatric units. It helps them:
- to take part in the decisions made about them;
- through everything during their stay
- for making sure their rights are upheld.
Please visit http://www.headspacetoolkit.org/ for more information.
- National Dementia Strategy has been published
This strategy sets out initiatives designed to make the lives of people with dementia, their carers and families better and more fulfilled. It will attempt to increase awareness of dementia, ensure early diagnosis and intervention and improve the quality of care that people with the condition receive.
(Department of Health - publications)
Download the Strengthening the Involvement of People with Dementia Toolkit on the Older Peoples Mental Health website.
Outcomes compendium: helping you select the right tools for best mental health care practice in your field
The Outcomes Compendium has now been published and is available to download. It provides information on available outcomes measures tools for use in mental health services through an evidence based evaluation of existing measure to support informed choice.
It is designed to support clinicians engaged in service delivery and development who wish to gauge clinical effectiveness and recovery in a balanced, culturally appropriate and ethical manner. The document is available as either a hardcopy on request or can be downloaded from the following link.
Download the Outcomes Compendium
- The Let's Respect Resource Box is now available on the Mental Health in Later Life website
The Let's Respect Resource Box is made up of powerful images and uses case studies to provide information and practical suggestions of how to better meet the mental health needs of older people focusing particularly on acute care settings.
To read more about the Let's Respect project and apply for a toolkit, please visit www.olderpeoplesmentalhealth.csip.org.uk/lets-respect.html
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy: Guidance for Commissioners
NIMHE Independent Mental Health Act Advocacy - Guidance for Commissioners is now available in PDF format on the NIMHE legislation website. Hard Copies will be available from regional implementation leads in early January.
To download the pdf, please click here.
This guidance from NIMHE has been prepared for the introduction of IMHA services on 1 April 2009. The guide outlines the statutory IMHA role, discusses good practice for IMHA services and outlines the commissioning process required to ensure high quality IMHA services are provided for qualifying patients under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Effective commissioning is key to provision of IMHA services. This guidance is designed to support commissioners in preparing for this new statutory service by providing a reference document to the legal and practical issues to be considered when commissioning IMHA services.
- Royal College of GPs profiles new guidance on Smoking and Mental Health
http://www.iris-initiative.org.uk/provide-practitioner-learning/smoking-and-mental-health.html
The resource is a product of a collaborative process between NIMHE, the Faculty of Public Health and the new Forum for Mental Health in Primary Care. The Forum for Mental Health in Primary Care is jointly hosted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of General Practitioners. It aims to encourage communication, collaboration and creativity between individuals and organisations who work to enable day-to-day mental health in everyone.
To find out more about the Forum, please contact
Dr Carolyn Chew-Graham Mental Health Clinical Champion to the RCGP, email carolyn.chew-graham@manchester.ac.uk
Dr Roger Banks Lead for Primary Care to RCPsychiatrists, email rbanks@rcpsych.ac.uk
- MEANINGFUL LIVES: National Early Intervention Programme supports a new vocational recovery initiative
Jo Smith has co-led the development with UK and international colleagues an important new initiative to improve educational and vocational attainments for young people with early psychosis. This initiative received support from Victoria State (Aus) Minister Lisa Neville when launched at the International Early Psychosis Association in Melbourne in October.
Find out more on the IRIS website
http://www.iris-initiative.org.uk/promote-recovery-and-ordinary-lives/international-first-episode-vocational-recovery-group.html
- Shift's 'Life in the Office' employment films now available
Shift has launched three short films to encourage staff and employers to think about mental health at work.
The films can be viewed online at http://shift.org.uk/employers
• Watch Bernies reaction to someone with ‘problems upstairs’
• See if you can relate to Pauls frustration at the photocopier
• Feel the anxiety when Sarah returns to work and finds that not everyone is as welcoming as she had hoped.
The films are aimed at employers and employees who do not consider mental health problems to be a workplace issue.
For any feedback about these films, please contact claire.newall@csip.org.uk
To watch the films, visit http://www.shift.org.uk/employers
Related links
Numerous events and actions will also take place all over the United Kingdom. See NIMHE Regional Websites for details.For further information about regional events and actions, please have a look at the different Regional Development Centre websites (link to http://www.nimhe.csip.org.uk/support-through-regions/printable-development-centre-guide.html).
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