Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Mental health team offer a vital lifeline
Visiting community groups and organisations, hearing about the work they are carrying out for local people and doing what I can to help, is one of the greatest pleasures of my job.
Our local communities would not be what they are without the work being done by groups and charities.
I had the pleasure of visiting the local offices of the Scottish Association for Mental Health last week and meeting the team delivering vital services across North Lanarkshire.
I was able to hear about their Expeerience Counts service and speak to their peer support workers who help people who are having problems with their mental health.
Funded by North Lanarkshire Council, it operates across Motherwell, Wishaw, Bellshill, Coatbridge, Airdrie and Cumbernauld.
The service offers peer support, which involves staff with their own lived experience of mental health, their recovery and helping provide support to others.
It also runs services for veterans, training programmes and an information service, Well-Informed.
In partnership with the council, Expeerience Counts is now piloting a GP link worker service.
The service has recruited six link workers, who work with GP practices to help them support people with mental health problems.
They work corroboratively with patients to understand the issues they are facing and to find community resources which might help.
They then help patients to get access to these resources. For example, physical activity is great for mental health, but visiting a gym for the first time can be daunting.
Link workers will help people to find an appropriate fitness scheme and then support them in contacting and attending for the first time.
The service is operating across all North Lanarkshire localities, and in two areas will also be working with patients recently diagnosed with dementia, and with young people aged 16 to 24.
The response has been excellent, with 110 referrals from the 30 GP practices that have so far signed up. SAMH’s Expeerience Counts hopes every GP practice will now get involved to help people with mental health problems bring about their recovery and I support them in that endeavour.
For too long people have avoided talking about mental health issues and people were left behind who could have been given better support.
Thankfully a greater understanding is developing that anyone can need help with their mental health and as a result services are improving, but we still have some way to go.
One way of ensuring people who need help get access to it is by talking about the services that are available and also sharing the details of these services as widely as possible.
But it is also important to acknowledge and recognise when good work is being done and I was delighted to hear about what manager Eileen Quinn and her team were doing to support people across North Lanarkshire – thanks!
You can contact Expeerience Counts on 01698 265659 or find out