SPN illuminates social inclusion agenda
"Rays of Hope" Conference - 7 April 2005
SPN’s Sussex Network aimed to bring sunshine and illumination to health and social care practitioners, service users and carers with a conference on socially inclusive best practice entitled “Rays of Hope”. Held in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, on 7 April 2005, the event drew together 140 delegates from across the south east to share their ideas around socially inclusive best practice.
Right: Survivor trainer Laura Lee loses income, family and community as she walks the line from social inclusion to exclusion.
The background to the conference was the Social Exclusion Report (2004) on mental health. This had unprecedented Cabinet backing and was “encouraging” for emphasising mental ill health as cause and product of social exclusion, said SPN member Nick Gould, professor of social work at Bath University and NIMHE/SCIE Research Fellow in Social Care. But its enlightened and holistic approach was being threatened by the government’s insistence elsewhere on a narrowly clinical and coercive approach, which tended to socially isolate and exclude those labelled as ‘mad’ or ‘deviant’, he said. Cue: the Daft Mental Health Bill.
The socially excluding effects of mental ill health were illustrated by Laura Lee, a service user/survivor trainer, in a workshop co-led with Malcolm Barrett of the NIMHE South East Development Centre. “When I fell ill I lost my house, transport and access to financial services, and my relationship broke down. I moved from social inclusion to social exclusion. But, with the right support, I was helped back”.
“How can practitioners help to provide hope in a seemingly hopeless world?” asked one of the keynote speakers, Peter Gilbert - survivor, associate SPN Member and one of two NIMHE/SCIE Research Fellows in Social Care. The answer lay in involving as many service providers and stakeholders as possible, including housing, schools, leisure and arts facilities and the media.
One of the main areas the conference focused on – in line with the Social Exclusion Report findings – was employment. The situation at the moment was that jobcentre staff often had no training around the needs of job applicants with mental health needs. The importance of employment to good mental health was not as yet properly acknowledged by health and social care services, and service users were often put off applying because of their fears around being discriminated – not without reason, as, according to the Social Exclusion Report less than 4 out of 10 employers would knowingly employ someone with a mental health condition.
According to Claire McFall, Service User Employment Programme Manager at West Sussex Health and Social Care NHS Trust, “mental health services need to engage with people’s vocational aspirations much earlier, rather than somewhat tokenistically bringing up the subject just before discharge”. “Under a quarter of people with long term mental illness work - but we believe that with an early placement and continued support programme, the potential is for many many more to be working”.
The West Sussex programme is based on a very successful programme undertaken by the South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust which has successfully helped service users to work within the Trust and outside it.
Other workshops/parallel sessions stressed the need for services to more proactively engage with black and minority ethnic communities as well as lesbian, gay and transgender perspective. The two major service user groups in Sussex, UserQ and Capital, also led a session exploring their experience of involvement in the evaluation of mental health services. Service user group Bedlam Warriors. There was also a live performance of poetry and prose by the ‘Bedlam Warriors’ and the opportunity to view a couple of recently acclaimed mental health films.
Summarising her thoughts about the day, delegate Fiona Burns, a psychologist working in forensic services said “It’s been a real eye opener in getting me to think more broadly and understand better about the impact of mental ill health, particularly the impact on carers and families – too often professionals leave them out of the equation”.
Terry Pegler, SPN member and Locality Manager in Brighton and Hove felt that “The challenge for me is to relate the insights I’ve gained to the world of targets and the scarce resources my colleagues and I have to work in. What we need to do is show that social perspectives and taking time to listen to peoples’ stories actually work in terms of outcomes. That’s the challenge of trying to incorporate human values into a system resting on evidence based practice.”
At the end of a very busy day, Greg Slay, of SPN’s Sussex Network and one of the organising group for the conference, said he was “delighted” at the turnout and interest expressed. “The Rays of Hope conference builds on previous events the SPN Sussex Network has organised and raises our profile among local practitioners, service users, carers, academics and policy makers who want to ensure that social perspectives are at the heart of mental health.”
To send feedback about the day and also to get involved in further debate and dialogue, please contact Greg Slay, Practice Development Manager – Mental Health, West Sussex County Council, on 01243 752020 greg.slay@westsussex.gov.uk
Link to social exclusion report in PDF format
Pictures from Rays of Hope
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From top left, clockwise: Delegates during Peter Gilbert's speech; Peter Gilbert sets out the goal of the conference; Ian Watling , Development Manager at East Sussex County Healthcare Trust, displays a stall with taken photographs by service users to illustrate their sense of being cut off . | ||
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