Peer Support Group at Chalkhill Community Centre - next meeting April 6th

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'Alice in the Cuckoo's Nest' Barham Community Library December 12th and 20th

From Barham Community Library


Live Theatre is coming back to Barham Community Library.

Our friends at the Librarian Theatre are performing their version of Alice. 

We offer a choice of two evening performances on Tuesday 12 December or Wednesday 20 December both starting at 7:30p.m.   Additional dates Preston Library on 14^th November and 19^th December at 7.30pm

As we have options for more performances we are encouraging early orders so we can decide on possible extra performances (including an afternoon Matinee) just before Xmas on 22nd and 23rd December.

Please help us out by ordering your tickets as early as you can.

Note from the Wembley Matters Editor: 

Alice in the Cuckoo’s Nest re-imagines Lewis Carroll’s classic story in the setting of a modern day mental institution. Although the show is family friendly, it is a far cry from the innocent adventure portrayed in Walt Disney’s 1951 film.

Please note that this is not a children’s show, and the production explores adult themes of mental health.

Brent childen's mental health - forum tomorrow

From Brent Clinical Commissioning Group

You are invited to the Health Partners Forum to input into the development of mental health services for children and adults in Brent.

Children Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Brent are presently undergoing a period of transformation as set out in the Local Transformation Plan.  The overall objective of the plan is to support improved mental health and wellbeing for children and young people in Brent. An important part of the plan is incorporating a new approach and thinking into CAMHS, which is known as the THRIVE model. 

http://www.implementingthrive.org/about-us/the-thrive-framework/

Involving residents and service users in this on-going work is an integral part of our continued commitment to developing CAMHS services.

At the Health Partners Forum we will:

·       Summarise plans for services for Brent to improve outcomes for children and young people

·       Update you on where we are with creating more joined up services

·       Summarise what we have heard from you during community engagement so far

·       Work with you to help shape the next phase of transforming services

Your attendance and participation at this event is therefore cordially requested as follows:

Date:       Wednesday 18^th October, 2017

Time:       6-8pm (registration of hot buffet from 5:15)

Venue:    The Sativis Patidar Centre, Forty Avenue, Wembley

Park, Middlesex, HA9 9PE

Please register at: http://bit.ly/2wAKzEx

Further information on the subject

Please visit the following links for further information on local plans for supporting and improving children and young people’s mental health in Brent:

http://brentccg.nhs.uk/en/publications/cat_view/1-publications/12-plans-and-strategies/451-camhs

SEND reform key document is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398815/SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf

http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/documents/s56252/8a.%20Child%20and%20Adolescent%20Mental%20Health%20Services%20in%20Brent.pdf

'Change of culture' needed to ensure positive use of self-directed mental health support

The Brent  Health and Wellbeing Board on Thursday 6th October has a heavy agenda but the report on Brent Mental Health User Group's (BUG) research into the use of self-directed support is well worth a substantial discussion. LINK

Although overall the findings are positive the recommendations point to areas of tension which are worth investigation, including the possibility that is some cases the support may be directed by others who think they know better than the user about the support they need:

Recommendations from the report include:

·      Ensure that staff maintain the ethos of self-directed support, enabling individuals to use direct payments in ways that they feel will meet their social care needs

·      Individuals need to have more choice about their personal assistants and staff need to work with them to ensure they feel in control of their relationship.

·      Staff need to work with individuals to enable them to identify and utilise personal assistants to do what they feel motivates them as opposed to what staff think will motivate people

·      Individuals need to be actively involved in measuring their progress; flexibility to meet individuals changing needs also needs to be incorporated

·      The role of personal assistants needs to be distinct from that of staff in specialist mental health services

·      Where individuals are using personal assistants via agencies, the role of the agency needs to be clear

The section of the report on 'Changing the Culture' is key:

While some progress towards change has been made, mental health services do continue to use the traditional, chronicity approach – characterised by staff ‘managing risk and care’. This represents a barrier to achieving consistent use of self-directed support by individuals using services to deal with mental health issues.

 Service providers need to replace this approach with all elements of a wellbeing and recovery and personalisation approach which is consistent with national expectations of services.

Staff need to be provided with comprehensive wellbeing and recovery training such as that designed and run successfully by BUG for some years, based on the approach developed together with people using services, carers and clinicians from a range of disciplines by National Institute for Mental Health England (NIMHE). Staff need to work with people as unique individuals in the context of their lives, in equal partnership, facilitating their identifying what they feel will enable them to improve all aspects of their wellbeing and move towards recovery. Staff’s practice needs to incorporate a strengths-based approach – recognising and building on people’s strengths and engaging with their intrinsic motivations as opposed to trying to create artificial motivations. As well as using reframing skills to challenge negative assumptions about individuals and turn them into opportunities to get to know and work with them as individuals, staff also need to use a positive risk- taking approach, enabling individuals to stretch themselves and try new things in order to achieve their potential.

Use of self-directed support needs to be incorporated, including to facilitate a personalisation approach, enable individuals to address all aspects of their wellbeing, develop their self-management and utilise community resources. Individuals who took part in the survey talked about how use of self-directed support had enabled them to regain their loss of identity as well as having developed a sense of purpose in life.

Other recommendations follow:  

Individuals Being Actively Involved in Their Use of Self-Directed Support

People’s response to this research has indicated that they are often not aware they are using self-directed support.

1.  Experience to date has indicated the importance of people using services leading to a greater extent as opposed to staff deciding what will motivate them. People also need to be actively involved in their use of self-directed support.

Creating Opportunities for Individuals to Meet Each Other

People do not have many opportunities to meet each other.

1.  Opportunities need to be created for individuals using direct payments to meet and gain peer support from each other, sharing their experiences and finding ways of resolving any difficulties.

Brent MIND: 'Get talking' as first step towards recovery

Get Talking is a Mental Health campaign which focuses on talking as a first step towards recovery. It features Adam Deacon, Trevor Nelson & James Rhodes and service users from Brent.

Race and Mental Health Talk Stirs Emotions

Dr Burke with Brent Mind CEO and BPV Steering Group members.
L-R Byron Miller, Dr Aggrey Burke, Peter Latham, Phil Sealy, Irwin Van Colle, Ruth Bradshaw, Lola Osikoya, Robin Sharp CB.

 

 

Deep emotions were stirred when consultant psychiatrist, Dr Aggrey Burke, addressed a public meeting in Brent on Race and Mental Health last Tuesday 19^th April 2016.

Dr Burke, former senior lecturer and consultant psychiatrist at St George’s Hospital, London, was speaking at the Learie Constantine Centre, Willesden, at an event sponsored by Brent Mind and Brent Patient Voice.

Recalling his origins in Jamaica and his coming to England in the late fifties, Aggrey Burke reflected on race, ethnicity, class and trauma as a deep background to the well known statistics which show that young black men may be five times more likely to be diagnosed with severe schizophrenia than similar men from other groups. In spite of a lifetime studying these issues he felt there were no easy explanations - or quick remedies - in sight.

He suggested that slavery and the estate culture which it promoted, along with weak family structures, were possibly relevant. At the same time he revealed figures which showed marked differences according to where and when migrants from the Caribbean were educated. He was unsure whether it was useful to bracket arrivals from far-separated islands as if one ethnicity - “Afro-Caribbean” - explained everything.

His talk provoked a lively and highly serious discussion, noting how some young people had progressed through education to very successful careers, while others still faced enormous challenges which the mental health system was struggling to address.

The 60-strong audience also heard about Brent Mind’s ARISE project on this same topic and the film Behind the Locked Door which is about to have its premiere.

During the evening Brent Patient Voice, the new independent group that speaks for patients to the health service powers that be, held its first AGM and elections.

See www.bpv.org.uk

Race & Public Health: Are black communities getting a fair deal? April 19th

Race and Mental Health: are black communities getting a fair deal? Public Meeting April 19th

From Brent Patient Voice and Brent MIND

For the first time since our launch in February last year Brent Patient Voice is holding a face to face meeting in public. This email is a warm invitation to colleagues who have not so far joined us as members to take part in the discussion of an important local health topic. We will also be holding our first AGM.

We are delighted to say that Brent MIND has agreed to partner us in this event which will be, as before, at the Learie Constantine Centre, 40-47 Dudden Hill Lane, NW10 2ET from 7-9pm on Tuesday 19th April.

The main speaker will be Dr Aggrey Burke, formerly Senior Lecturer and Consultant Psychiatrist at St George's Hospital London. His title will be "Race and Mental Health: are black communities getting a fair deal?" He has amplified this title further with the words: "The interaction of stigma, racial exclusion, mental illness and offender behaviour". Dr Burke has also asked us to mention that he is now involved in voluntary activities in London and the Midlands. We imagine that his presentation may be somewhat controversial, but we are convinced that this is an important topic within the community of Brent.

We hope that Brent MIND colleagues will speak briefly about their work in general and in this specific area of concern.

The main meeting will be followed by the first AGM of Brent Patient Voice at around 8.30pm. We will present reports of what we have been up to and seek democratic legitimacy by holding elections. In particular we need members to join our steering group to help with communications, the website and membership matters. More details will follow on the AGM. Do let me know if you are interested in joining our group or just go to "membership" on our website.   http://www.bpv.org.uk/membership/

As you know we are a very small voluntary body doing our best to work constructively with the local NHS on behalf of patients. PLEASE DO JOIN US IF YOU CAN ON THE 19TH TO ENSURE THAT BPV'S PRIORITIES ARE THOSE OF ITS MEMBERS AND THE PUBLIC.

To help cater for the event please email your intention to attend:  mailto :info@bpv.org.uk

Brent Big Health Debate Meetings in October

From Brent NHS Clinical Commissioning Group

Local Commissioing Intentions Followup Meetings

As places are limited please can you contact Sandra Sam-Yorke at brentccg.engagement@nhs.net  8900 5376 to register as soon as possible. Also you can review and comment on our draft commissioning intentions using our online survey HERE

Topic	Locality	Date	Venue	Lead
Integration of health and social care	Wembley	16-Oct, 3-5pm	WCHC Boardroom,   116 Chaplin Road, Wembley, HA0 4UZ	Sean Girty
Community services	Willesden	22-Oct 2-4pm	Willesden Centre for Health & Care Robson Avenue, Willesden Green, NW10 3RY	Isha Coombes
Mental Health Community Action on Dementia	Kilburn	23 Oct, 12-5pm	Clayton Crown Hotel   142-152 Cricklewood Broadway, NW2 3ED	Brent Council & CCG
Planned care	Kilburn	23-Oct, 1-3pm	St Anne’s Church - 125 Salusbury Road, West Kilburn, NW6 6RG	Huw Wilson
Mental Health Post-traumatic stress disorder	Harness	27-Oct, 11:30-1pm	Brent Mind The Design Works Park Parade, Harlesden,NW10 4HT	Brent Mind
Mental Health Brent User Group	Wembley	29-Oct,  3-5.30pm or 5-7.30pm	Patidar Centre 22 London Rd, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 7EX	Brent User Group