Motherwell / Wishaw / Shotts Last Friday Every Month at 1.30Pm, Houldsworth Centre, Wishaw, ML2 7LP
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Recovery Stories Project This Stigma Free Lanarkshire WHAT’S INSIDE project gives people with lived experience of mental health issues the opportunity to share Christmas Members’ Meeting their story of recovery. Adult Psychology Services - Scottish Welfare Fund - Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership North Lanarkshire Adult Support and Protection NL Carers Together Committee Learn about the work of the Marc Howard Project Worker - Carers tells us Service User and Carer Group about the Carers' Charter and Knowing Your Rights Community Liaison Service The Community Liaison Service aims to support hospital NHS Lanarkshire Adult Psychology discharge by providing a link between acute settings and Services community supports Dr Simon Stuart talked to Lanarkshire Links members about the work of the Psychological Hope Café Lanarkshire The Stigma Free Lanarkshire Services Teams across Lanarkshire Team is delighted to announce the Hope Cafés commitment to challenging mental health stigma and discrimination 2 Mental Health Matters - Issue 38 | February 2019 Contents Lanarkshire Links Christmas Members’ Meeting 2018 4-8 New Chat Café at NCT Centre in Newmains 9 Lanarkshire Links Members' Meeting September 2018 10-14 You are my Sunshine(YAMS) 15 North Lanarkshire Carers Together 16-17 North Lanarkshire Adult Protection Committee 18-19 The Community Liaison Service 20 North Lanarkshire PPF 21 LAMH trains DWP in Mental Health 22 Heads Up for Airdrie Academy 23 Gathering Recovery Stories Project 24 Hope Café Lanarkshire 25 North Lanarkshire Disability Forum 26 Care & Repair 27 Joint Integrated MH Issues Groups Mental Health Matters - Issue 38 | February 2019 3 Editorial Welcome to issue 38 of Mental Health Matters magazine. We had a very successful Annual General Meeting on 26th September 2018. Following the Business there were presentations from Dr Clive Ferenbach Senior Clinical Psychologist Psychological Therapies for Older People, NHS Lanarkshire and Olivia Fitton, South Lanarkshire Carers Advocacy Coordinator, The Advocacy Project. The members were then invited to engage in round table discussion on Olivia’s current project providing an advocacy service for carers. We finished the meeting with Carol’s Recovery Story. Carol wanted to share her story of recovery to get people talking about their own mental health, to de-stigmatise mental health problems. It’s a story of hope with Carol reflecting on how far she has come and how much she’s overcome, what has helped her in her recovery and how she feels about Liz MacWhinney life now. Manager Lanarkshire Links Christmas Member Meeting 2018 took place on 5th December 2018 and we were pleased to have presentations fromDr Simon Stuart, Adult Psychology Services, NHS Lanarkshire, Libby Dick, Scottish Welfare Fund Co-ordinator, Finance and Corporate Resources, South Lanarkshire Council. Libby provided the members present with a Frequently Asked Questions Information sheet and we have included this in the body of the report of the day. Vicki Trim, NHS Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership Manager explained the connections between public health and health and social care and engagement with the general population through everyday contact with nature, recreation, volunteering, learning and active travel. The final speaker wasMichael Byrne who came along to share his recovery story with the members. Poems From A Mod is a remarkable story of ongoing recovery from Complex PTSD. The book is a collection of ‘Survival Poetry’ based on his feelings and emotions around the journey that he’s been on. The new carers’ issues group is now up and running for details please contact Sheena Hamilton, Development Manager: [email protected] My thanks to our partnership agencies who have provided articles for this edition. Have you changed your details? If you have recently moved or updated any of your contact details, please get in touch and let us know – phone the office on01698 265232 or mail to [email protected] We have one vacancy on our voluntary Management Committee (Charity Trustees). Our Management Committee ensure we are well run with the relevant systems in place to achieve our aims. For further information please contact [email protected]. Important Disclaimer: Advice, comments and articles provided in Mental Health Matters are for general information and are not intended to substitute for informed professional, medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Lanarkshire Links does not endorse and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed. 4 Mental Health Matters - Issue 38 | February 2019 Lanarkshire Links Christmas Members' Meeting 2018 Lanarkshire Links Christmas Members Meeting took There are various different types of therapy offered place on 5th December 2018 at the Alona Hotel but, as we’ll see, therapy isn’t the be-all and end-all. Strathclyde Country Park. One hundred and four people attended the event. The majority of people We assess ‘What has happened to you?’ participating at 60 were Lanarkshire Links Members. We formulate ‘A shared understanding’ The members were joined by staff from the statutory Then we do what we can to help you. We explore and voluntary sector and we were pleased to what else might be useful to you. This might be welcome service users from NHSL inpatient facilities. individual or group therapy, working with other staff The focus of the meeting was information sharing or referring to another team. All the therapy we and recovery. provide is evidence-based. Francis Fallan MBE Chairperson welcomed everyone We work with a people with mild to moderate as well to the meeting. The following is taken from the as severe and enduring mental health problems. mornings presentations. All referrals to MH services are discussed by multiple Adult Psychology Services, NHS Lanarkshire staff at a weekly meeting in each locality this means we’re dependent on the quality of the referral. Self- The first speaker of the morning was Dr Simon Stuart, referral is being tried in some areas and this might be Adult Psychology Services, NHS Lanarkshire a way around this. We are considering the pros and cons and carrying out careful evaluation (research). We aim to provide the most useful thing at the most useful time. If therapy isn’t the right thing, we need to be clear about that. We are a limited resource: we have to ration what we can offer. We would like to do more but we have to think about how best we might do it. Which is where you come in! What we can’t do • See everyone who is referred to us, we are a very limited resource, we will do our best to offer other advice • Offer long term support, others can so this better that us, we will do our best to link people Simon introduced himself and explained that he is not up a medic but a Doctor by research. Not a psychiatrist: • Fix people, that’s not how therapy works who are medics who specialise in mental health, • Provide all the answers; nobody can! psychologists are specialists in the science of thought and behaviour and that he chooses to work with NHS But we will be open and honest with you. Members Lanarkshire based with the Clydesdale Psychological were invited to complete questionnaires that Simon Therapies Team. had placed on the tables inviting feedback. For adult mental health there is a team in each Frank thanked Simon for his presentation. Simon has locality with various staff within these teams already provided an article in the Summer 18 issue of Psychologists, Clinical Associates, Counsellors and Mental Health Matters magazine and it is hoped that Cognitive Behavioural Therapists. The team sit he will return at a future members meeting to carry alongside the Community Mental Health teams and out more in depth consultation to support service work with the Psychiatrists, CPNs and Occupational development going forward. Therapists. Together we can offer a broad view and hopefully help people. Mental Health Matters - Issue 38 | February 2019 5 Scottish Welfare Fund Do you have to be in receipt of a benefit to apply for a Scottish Welfare Fund grant? The next speaker for the morning was Libby Dick, Scottish Welfare Fund Co-ordinator, Finance and • You do not need to be in receipt of a benefit to Corporate Resources, South Lanarkshire Council. apply for a grant. You may be eligible to receive a grant if you are aged 16 or over and on a low income. Do you need to have children to get a Scottish Welfare Fund grant? • No - the Scottish Welfare Fund aims to provide a safety net to a wide range of vulnerable people with low income, not just those with children. Can I apply if I am subject to a benefit sanction? • Yes – being subject to a sanction or disallowance does not affect your eligibility. I have made a new application to the DWP (Department for Work and Pension), but I need help now – what should I do? • Before contacting your local council you should seek assistance from the DWP. In some Libby talked to the members about the Scottish circumstances the DWP may be able to provide Welfare Fund which helps families and people in you with an Advanced Payment Scotland who are on low incomes through Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants. Do I need to apply to the DWP for a Budgeting Loan before asking for a Scottish Welfare Fund grant? You can apply for a: Crisis Grant – if you're in crisis because of a disaster (like a fire or flood), or an • No – eligibility for the Scottish Welfare Fund is emergency (like losing your money or an unexpected not dependent on whether you have asked for a expense) or a Community Care Grant – to help you or Budgeting Loan.