NEW MENTAL HEALTH SITE POINTS THE WAY IN KERRY

A NEW web page launched by Kerry Mental Health Services is aiming to make it easier for the people of Kerry to identify and seek out the help they need for their mental health.

The page was developed by a team with Cork and Kerry Community Healthcare and tries to guide users to the help they need by first asking them to follow the link that best describes their current mental health needs. Visitors then choose one of three answers: ‘I need support for my mental health but I’m not in crisis’; ‘I am having a mental health crisis’; or ‘I want to learn more about mental health’.

The website then brings the visitor to information relevant to their answer and also signposts towards local community-based therapeutic services available in different parts of Kerry.

“Our hope was that by asking a person to click on the statement that best fits with how they or the person they are concerned about feels, they will be brought to the information they need at that time preventing further overload of information when they might already be overwhelmed,” Clinical Psychologist Samira Hayes said.

“So a person who clicks on ‘I need support for my mental health but I’m not in crisis’ will be brought to links and contact details for other community based therapeutic services that they can go to for support for their emotional difficulties.”

The page has been designed by doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, social workers and experts from other professions. Ms Hayes explained that the site will be fine-tuned according to feedback from the people of Kerry. The new page can be accessed at www.hse.ie/ eng/services/list/5/kerryhealthservices/ kerrymentalhealth/.