Partnership working
In October 2004 an integrated multidisciplinary team was established within the Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit (SHPSU) to provide co-ordinated national advice and support for the development of health promoting schools based on coherent generic principles in line with the national Framework Being Well - Doing Well that:
- Give appropriate attention to specific health issues; and
- Are well suited to the operational and developmental aspects of the school setting
An integrated work plan is being finalised that incorporates specific requirements relating to the National Programme for Mental Health and Well Being.
Key objectives for 2005 include:
- Research and evaluate existing school-based mental health and well being promotion programmes/projects/interventions with a view to making recommendations for potential use in Scottish schools and make recommendations to National Programme for Mental Health and Well Being and SEED.
- In conjunction with the Teacher Support Scotland/Teachers' Being Well Project develop a piece of research into the impact of the three teacher well-being pilot projects on the mental health and well being of children and young people. This will require inclusion of non-pilot schools as control sites. This will take place over the next two years to support schools and local networks.
- Work with existing projects/programmes across the national programme to develop coherence of delivery within the school context
- Completion of development of guidance paper on PPP (new builds, refurbishments) and the development of school learning and teaching environments in the context of health promoting schools and the promotion of mental health and well being of the whole school population
- Co-ordination, communication and liaison with regional and national health promoting schools (including issue specific) networks and informing/supporting strategic development processes
- Integrate mental health and well being into all aspects of SHPSU work.
- Establish a national working group, comprised of a range of agencies. The task of this group would be to examine the evidence of effectiveness in interventions for emotional wellbeing and make recommendations for the way forward in Scottish schools
Database development
In Partnership with Improving Mental Health Promotion Action (IMHPA) in Holland (part of the European Union health structures), Scotland is planning to be a pilot site for the development of a data base of existing projects/programmes and interventions. This will allow IMHPA to refine the data collection methods and simultaneously allow Scotland to develop its own database, linked into an already established system which will be maintained and quality assured by IMHPA. This will happen between April 2005 and end of March 2006 i.e. over the course of the next financial year. The aim of the task is to collect data on initiatives and projects current in Scotland which relate to children and young people's mental health. In the first instance, it will be projects which are specific to mental health issues and which are based on both mental health improvement and prevention of mental health problems.
If time allows, there could be a second wave of
date collection on projects and initiatives which
are not mental health orientated as a primary focus
but have a significant impact on mental health
see me..
The C&YP's strand of work was launched on 27 January 2005. HeadsUpScotlandhas been involved in supporting this work by:
- leading a short-life working group which considered what infra-structures are required to be in place to support C&YP who may present as a result of the media work. The group also contributed to the support materials for those adults who are likely to be those most immediately contacted.
- along with see me.., the project has sought the support of Health Promotion Departments across the country to take the lead in creating supportive local infra-structures to be able to respond to the media campaign.
Voluntary Sector Forum
The voluntary sector have agreed to create an umbrella
group which will jointly take forward the work on
children and young people's mental health. The group
(which is currently in very early development) will
have the following functions and tasks:
Functions:
- To provide a vehicle for the views of the voluntary sector to contribute to the development and activity of HeadsUpScotland
- To provide a means whereby HeadsUpScotland can consult the voluntary sector
- To provide opportunities for the voluntary sector to share activities and good practice on children and young people's mental health
- To provide a mechanism whereby the voluntary sector can provide representation onto the formal structures of HeadsUpScotland
- To identify mechanisms and systems whereby the sustainability and further development of this forum can be assured.
- Identify and define further tasks for the future
Task:
In the first instance, the voluntary sector forum will further develop the Framework (Children & Young People's Mental Health: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care). This will be done from a voluntary sector point-of-view, providing clarity and definition on the potential (and actual) contribution of the voluntary sector to children and young people's mental health. It is anticipated that this will be an inclusive process. The output will be a second version of the Framework, produced from a voluntary sector perspective. It is likely that, in the fullness of time, this will be integrated with the version written from the NHS perspective (and any other additional versions).
The timescale for the completion of this task is within 12 months of the forum being established.
Partnership with CAMHs
This piece of work is considering exploring the options for those parts of the CAMH service which require to be considered on a regional basis and how to support that process across the country over the next 18 months. Much more information on how this work is likely to progress will be gathered from the returns to the consultation process for the Framework. Early discussions are taking place with the Mental Health Division at the Scottish Executive about how this major piece of work might be resourced.
