Publish date: 10 October 2022
Today (Monday 10 October) is world mental health day, and the theme is 'making mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority'. To mark the day, West London NHS Trust has been involved in various initiatives in order to help improve mental health and wellbeing for our local populations.
On Friday night (7 October) a group of volunteers attended the QPR v Reading match, a Championship game that was broadcast live on Sky Sports, to raise awareness of the partnership the Trust has embarked on with the QPR in the Community Trust. Our jointly-branded hoodie-wearing gang wielded leaflets, business cards and pens for footy fans as they flocked into the stadium. Clinical Director for CARMHS Dr Julia Renton, and Deputy Director Gail Dearing even took to the pitch as part of the half time entertainment to talk about the work we’re doing with the club and to remind people that help is available for those in need – whether through our local MINT services or through the crisis helpline. There was also trust-branded advertising on the LED hoardings and on the match scoreboards.
Julia Renton said:
“This was a brilliant combination of getting a really important and serious message out to our local community in a very visible way and a lot of fun! I’m so grateful to colleagues who volunteered their time on a Friday night, but we all enjoyed it, including the very entertaining match which finished 2-1, and we dished out thousands of leaflets, pens and business cards as reminders to people that support is available when you need it most."
On Sunday (9 Oct) a group of trust employees were on hand to welcome the amazing ‘Three Dads Walking’, a trio of fathers who lost their daughters to suicide and are now raising both awareness and funds to tackle the issue. The group, made up of Tim, Andy and Mike, are walking between parliament buildings from Belfast to Edinburgh to Cardiff and finishing in London. However, as an extraordinary gesture they rearranged their route specially to incorporate visiting Shruti’s tree at Ealing Hospital, which is a memorial to all healthcare workers who’ve taken their own life.
In attendance was Alison Albiller, practice development lead in nursing and one of the Trust’s suicide leads, who said:
“It was a privilege and an emotional occasion to meet the Three Dads. It’s virtually impossible to relate to what they’ve been through but what they’re doing now is simply amazing. They’ve raised so much money but on top of that, they’ve brought the issue to national attention through their families’ experiences – and you can’t put a value on that!”
Psychiatrists at the trust are working partnership with experts from the mental health charity Mind to provide 'Safe Spaces' for people in mental health crisis. The trust has three Safe Spaces in Hounslow, Hammersmith and Ealing where trained staff are able to provide support and advice for those that need it, away from busy accident and emergency departments.
Finally, to round off the World Mental Health Day activity, the Trust is piloting a ground-breaking research project which uses a digital intervention called Imaginator to help prevent self harm among children and young adults.
Self harm can have a devastating impact on people's lives and in the UK it affects around 20% of young people. Currently, therapies for self-harm treat the underlying mental health difficulties, which can be helpful, but this can also be time consuming, involving many hours of therapy.
With this in mind, the Trust has teamed up with Imperial College London to launch the Imaginator intervention study. The study involves a type of therapy called 'Functional Imagery Therapy' which is delivered over three sessions.