Publish date: 29 February 2024
We’re delighted to share that West London NHS Trust has been nominated for two NHS Communicate awards! These nominations acknowledge our outstanding healthcare communication strategies and initiatives within the NHS.
The Trust has been selected as a finalist in two categories: Best Use of Digital Communications and Engagement, and Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Communications. These nominations showcase the innovative efforts of our perinatal service and communications team in actively engaging and informing the local community about maternal mental health support available to all women and families in need.
The service offers mental health support to pregnant women and new Mums in Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Hounslow. With stigma and fear of judgment known to be barriers to mothers accessing help, the team’s focus was to ensure inclusivity and accessibility. Supported by the Trust’s communications team, the service has implemented innovative campaigns and inclusive approaches that have amplified awareness and successfully enhanced referral rates.
Efforts were directed toward reaching minority communities and breaking language barriers through an effective online digital marketing campaign. Launched last year, the ‘You’re not alone’ project resonated with diverse demographics and successfully increased referral and awareness of the service.
A series of impactful short films were also developed featuring diverse women speaking about their maternal mental health experiences in their own languages. The ‘Mother tongue, motherhood, and mental health’ film project was produced in collaboration with experts by experience and aims to empower a wider group of women and their families with information to help them to seek support when they need it. The films were showcased at in-person film screening events for local communities in two of our three local boroughs – with another planned later this year – gaining over 37k YouTube views collectively.
Winners of the NHS Communicate Awards will be announced at a special virtual ceremony next week (March 7).
You can watch the Mother tongue, Motherhood, and mental health’ film collection on YouTube here.
