Joy MacKeith, Co-Founder and Director of Triangle, and one of the authors of the Outcomes Stars reflects on the Mental Health 2019 conference.
By Joy MacKeith, Director and Co-Founder of Triangle.
This was my second time at this conference bringing together senior NHS policy makers and service providers to chew over the state of the nation’s mental health. There certainly was a lot to think about….
Integration, integration, integration
The strongest message throughout the day was to think holistically about mental health. Duncan Selbie, CEO of Public Health England kicked things off by reminding us that the biggest determinants of mental health are income, housing, work and social connection. This was then driven home by Andrew Herd from the Department of Health and Social Care who is engaged in the mammoth task of rallying all government departments around the cause of mental health and inspiring, cajoling and sometimes requiring them to factor mental health into their policy-making. It was refreshing to hear this holistic drum being banged, music to my ears as one engaged in creating tools which attempt to provide a map for the person’s whole life, not just the problem that brought them through the door.
Young people on the top of the agenda
Most of the conversations that we had on our Outcomes Star stand were about My Mind Star – our newly published tool for early intervention with young people with mental health issues. There was real excitement about the strengths-based focus and intuitive visuals. The fact that it also provides service-wide distance travelled information was usually not the focus of the conversation, but nevertheless seen as an important plus. There is a big scale of up services for this group, Phoebe Robinson, Health of Mental Health for NHS England told us. That isn’t surprising given that a shocking one in three children and young people now have a diagnosable mental health issue.
Get ready for growth in social prescribing
GP, David Smart shared his experience of creating an integrated depression pathway in Northampton. What inspired me about this case study was seeing just how much difference can be made when people step out of their normal ways of doing things and look at a problem freshly. Social prescribing plays an important part in their approach and is an example of integration in action. It was mentioned often through the day as an approach that is on the rise. I was extra pleased when I heard that they are exploring the use of the Well-being Star to collaboratively assess needs and the measure outcomes of their social prescribing work.
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Interested in finding out more about the Outcomes Stars for mental health and well-being?
The Recovery Star Fourth Edition is a new edition of the Outcomes Star for working with mental health and well-being. My Mind Star is the new Outcomes Star for young people young people’s mental health and well-being. Find out more here. To find out more about which which other Outcomes Stars are suitable for organisations working with mental health and well-being, please take a look at our sector page. For more information on the Outcomes Stars and our licensing and training options please contact us: email Triangle at info@triangleconsulting.co.uk, or call on +44 (0) 202 7272 8765.
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Joy MacKeith: Joy is a co-creator of the Outcomes Stars. She leads on innovation, data, research and the theory behind the Star. For more information on the evidence and research that underpins the Outcomes Stars visit our evidence and research library. Please contact us for any further information: email Triangle at info@triangleconsulting.co.uk.
