Government Announces A New Vision For Mental Health And Wellbeing The millions of people who suffer from or might face mental illness at some point in their lives will be the focus of a new strategy, Care Services Minister Phil Hope announced today. “New Horizons” is a new strategy that will promote good mental health and well-being, whilst improving services for people who have mental health problems. It will build on the National Service Framework for mental health - widely acknowledged as the catalyst for a transformation in mental health care over the last ten years – which comes to an end in 2009. A series of New Horizons ‘listening events’ starts this month hosted by Phil Hope and Louis Appleby, National Director for Mental Health. They will seek views on what the new Strategy should cover from a wide range of people. The Strategy is expected later this year. New Horizons recognises that:
New Horizons heralds a dynamic new approach to whole population mental health. The focus on prevention and maintaining good mental health is particularly relevant today with people leading more hectic lifestyles and going through the economic downturn. Phil Hope said: “Mental illness affects us all. Whether it is ourselves, a family member or a friend, lots of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives. “Over the past ten years we’ve made great strides in transforming the way mental health is dealt with. But we need to do more. I’m particularly interested in looking at how we can help people to look after their mental health and prevent them from becoming ill. And I’m keen to tackle the stigma that’s associated with it – this isn’t something we can shy away from, mental ill health is as serious as physical illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. “Individuals, employers and all sorts of organisations have a role to play in helping to achieve good mental health for all. So, we’re going around the country to hear people’s views and hope to publish our new vision later this year. My ambition is to create a strategy that will improve services and promote public mental health and wellbeing for years to come.” Simon Lawton-Smith, Head of Policy at the Mental Health Foundation, said: Many services are already in place, which aren’t normally considered as mental health services, but which could help promote public mental health and wellbeing and prevent future problems. It is these types of services that New Horizons could help promote. Examples include:
New Horizons ‘Listening Events’ are currently planned as below. Formal consultation on New Horizons is also planned, following these events. April 22 – London To contribute comments or suggestions for the New Horizons programme, or to be kept up to date on developments, please email: newhorizons@dh.gsi.gov.uk Source: NDS
|