Improving the Mental Health of the Public in the North East

Listed below are the key activities we will be delivering during 2010-11. Our lead for this work is Neil Johnson.

Extend the use of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Behaviour Scale (WEMWBS), to monitor mental wellbeing and evaluate mental health promotion activities.
Lead the development and launch of a regional Time to Change anti-stigma campaign.
Prepare for the regional roll-out of routine physical health checks for people with a severe mental illness.
Secure regional agreement on a screening tool to identify anxiety, depression and memory problems in people with long term conditions and agree a pilot site, in preparation for roll-out across the region in 2011-12.
Ensure sustainability of the NEMHDU-commissioned physical activity toolkit.
Increase opportunities for social prescribing within Primary Care.
Enable service users, carers, hard to reach communities and people with mental health problems in the ciminal justice system, to access Mental Health First Aid training. Mental Health First Aid England have been commissioned to deliver this training.
Reduce the suicide rate in the North East to the national average for England, learning lessons from localities with lower rates of suicide and working with localities that have significantly higher rates than the regional average. Download the regional suicide reduction and prevention strategy [pdf; 92kb].

Listed below are the key activities we will be delivering during 2010-11. Our lead for this work is Tim Bird.

Support the NHS in the North East and other public sector bodies to become exemplar employers in mental health.
Increase awareness of emplyability as a 'treatment' amongst health and social care professionals to support social and economic inclusion.
Lead the development of the Individual Placement Support programe, to achieve 20 placements into employment by March 2011 and 40 by March 2012.