Well Connected Cowal Report ACUMEN June 2018

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2 Summary: Well Connected Cowal was a well-attended community event looking at building connections in our communities that keep us well mentally and emotionally. The aim of the day was to show case some of resources that are available locally and bring people together to share ideas, information and look at ways to support mental health and wellbeing going forward. We were able to listen to and record people s local experiences: The key themes emerging were: A need for up to date access to information about locally available support groups and activities. Ideas included central wellbeing hubs where support and information can be accessed. That community events to such as Well Connected Cowal are useful and effective at to bringing local stakeholders together to talk about what s important to them, to share information and ideas and as a platform for discussion. Accessible and diverse types of support is important. Transport links that cover the broad geographical area are vital and activities and groups available at weekends and evenings. What works a few comments People challenging Asking what we would like. More of the same... events! Varied groups offering services and help Better signposting so people know where to go. More communication & real sharing of knowledge and information 2

3 Background: ACUMEN, the Mental Health Foundation and Scottish Recovery Network worked in partnership to support the development of a community event in Dunoon with the purpose of finding out from people in the community: What works well for you?, What do we need more of? and What do we need to do to create supportive, Well-Connected and Mentally healthy communities?. A steering group was formed bringing together community groups, local services, and interested community members from across Cowal. The group met in early January and quickly pulled resources and connections together to form an event which would show case what was available in the local community to support mental health and well-being. The steering group included Rachel McLean (ACUMEN), Fiona M Fraser (ACUMEN), Audrey Forrest (SNP Councillor), Chris White (MHF), Louise Christie (SRN), Jessica McGillivray (Dunoon TSI), Mary Prior-Stevens and Eleanor Stevenson (Inspiring Innellan), Eileen Lea (ACUMEN), Allan Pettie (ACUMEN), Viv Hamilton (Support in Mind), Nicky Newman (Dunoon CMHT) and Karen Gill (Carr Gomm). If you would like any information regarding groups, support services available in the Cowal locality; Dunoon TSI, Edward Street, PA23 7PJ can provide up to date information: Tel: (The Steering Group on the day of the event) 3

4 Peer Potential Well Connected Cowal was the final consultation event in a series of community events held by ACUMEN and Mental Health Foundation to look at what people currently do to stay well, what else may support this and how Self Directed Support, could promote wellbeing and increase choice around the sort of support people want. These events took place in Kintyre in January, Rothesay in February, Lochgilphead in March and Well Connected Cowal, Dunoon in April. WHY As part of the Peer Potential, Self-Directed Support events, ACUMEN and the Mental Health Foundation worked with people who use mental health support in Argyll and Bute to understand some of the issues people face accessing support. Working with a graphic facilitator, two illustrations were produced. The first card: WHY shows the difficulties people experience accessing mental health support in their communities. The second card Self Directed Support, shows how services could work better for individuals. 4

5 SELF DIRECTED SUPPORT The original illustrations were brought to the event and displayed on boards to support discussion about how individuals can have more control over the type of support they receive. The Event: Well Connected Cowal was held in Dunoon Burgh Hall on 21 st April Attended by over 80 members of the public, with ages ranging from 6 to 80 plus. The focus of the Event was to bring the Community together and to showcase all the great community work and activities already taking place in Dunoon. The activities on offer throughout the day were wide and varied. Some made, and named, their own bird boxes with Inspiring Innellan and can watch them receive their new inhabitants via Inspiring Innellan s Facebook page, others took away knitting patterns to help cover Dunoon in Poppies during remembrance week. There was the opportunity to chat with Historic Kilmun who have a number of interesting projects. Dunoon Link Club, Wildlife Rescue, Scottish Recovery Network and Mental Health Foundation were also 5

6 present with a number of useful tools to help us all stay well. Carr Gomm s Blethering about SDS had a number of interesting conversations with people around SDS and how it may be relevant to them. Dunoon TSI provided detailed information on the wide variety of support and activities available locally in the form of posters and leaflets. All participants on the day were provided with a bag of hope including a Mental Health awareness ribbon, mental health information and inspiring and hopeful affirmations. Refreshments were provided by the Episcopal Church. The day was interactive and workshops ran throughout the day including Mindfulness, Tai Chi, creating wellness toolkits, a walking group and junk box modelling. The workshops allowed people coming along to try new things and develop skills to manage wellbeing. All of the workshops received excellent feedback from participants. What did we learn from the day? We collected feedback and information from people who attended the day in a variety of ways. We created a formal questionnaire looking at the four key areas of the Argyll and Bute Health and Wellbeing Partnership 5-year joint improvement plan, and, an evaluation station to ask people what they had got out of the day, what works, what do we need more of? The Questionnaire The questionnaire looked at the four themes of the Joint Improvement Plan. The plan is described as a call to action to enable people and communities across Argyll and Bute to lead the healthiest lives possible, building vibrant, well connected communities that offer a wide range of services promoting health and well-being. We asked, what is available locally and what else do we need in the area? Theme 1: Giving children a good start in life Theme 2: One of the best ways to improve health is to improve income levels Theme 3: Health problems can be caused or made worse by social issues like loneliness, relationship breakdown, debt or homelessness Theme 4: Enabling people to be as health as possible and focus on wellness instead of illness. 6

7 Some responses: Better advertising for people without internet access If we could find things that appeal to an intergenerational audience, that would be really helpful to build a community Health and Wellbeing hub for all to drop-in for a while for a wide variety of support and signposting Early intervention for families who are affected by poverty addiction or mental health is lacking. Mindfulness in schools is starting to gain interest and would be beneficial Childcare which allows parents to attend support sessions Promote volunteering opportunities to combat loneliness and help people to meet Publicise opportunities for volunteering and the benefits to the individuals and the community Evaluation Station Comments: Wow so many groups in Dunoon Lot s of local information Relaxed atmosphere Sense of community, friendly Good information Lot s of good ideas Great ideas and networking passing on the good practice Time and space to talk 7

8 Recommendations: Well Connected Cowal s success relied on a passionate group of local stakeholders coming together with third sector partners to show case what is available in Cowal locally that can support people to maintain mental health and well-being. The tasters and workshops gave participants at the event an opportunity to experience self-management approaches and there was a significant number of people asking where they could access mindfulness, Tai Chi and wellness recovery on a regular basis. Organising the event the steering group were able to harness local energy and expertise about what works and what can work in the future when looking at local health needs. The Steering group and local people who attended the day were keen to be involved in looking at how support services can be designed and delivered to tackle mental health problems, loneliness, social isolation and stigma. One recommendation that ACUMEN would like to propose is to utilise the event as a platform for continuing to engage people in what community support services in Cowal could look like. The Argyll and Bute Community mental health Services review is currently underway and information from this event will be fed into the review. On discussion in other forums there has been interest in replicating the well connected event idea in different areas across Argyll and Bute as a way of generating community engagement. Three recommendations: 1. To use the Well-Connected Cowal event as a platform to bring interested community stakeholders together to look at how mental health support can be designed and delivered. 2. For mental health and social care services to have a good understanding of local support and be able to signpost appropriately and effectively 3. To develop links with locality planning groups in maintaining the health and wellbeing of local residents. 8

9 ACUMEN ACUMEN is a network of service users and carers who access mental health support across Argyll and Bute, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire. The network enables people to come together to share knowledge, skills and experience about mental health, wellbeing and recovery but also provides a platform to share the experiences and challenges of accessing support and treatment that meets individual needs and supports individual journeys of recovery. ACUMEN seeks to support individuals to come together as a collective voice, to use their knowledge and experience to advocate for positive change and facilitate the participation of people who use mental health services in the design, delivery and implementation of services. Rachel McLean ACUMEN Development Manager 9