What made you decide to get involved?

Our organisation is commissioned to deliver a public health workforce development programme to professionals and volunteers across South Tyneside. We offer Connect 5 and thought that MECC for Mental Hwalth would compliment the offer. As we deliver social prescribing services, we are aware that many people are experiencing higher levels of low mental wellbeing.

In your view what is the strategic case for MECC for Mental Health?

There are a few strands to a strategic case for cascading MECC MH:

• Through our social prescribing delivery, we are seeing a greater prevalence of low mental wellbeing. Social issues such as money, housing, isolation are impacting on people’s mental health. We are seeing people waiting longer than ever for support from statutory mental health services. MECC for MH provides the workforce with the knowledge, skills and confidence to be able to talk and support people with their mental health.
• As the pressure on statutory services mounts, the VCSE sector are stepping up to support people within the community. Our VCSE partners have shared that their staff are having to support people with more complex and challenging aspects of their life. They are not necessarily equipped with the correct knowledge or skills to do this. This then impacts on their own mental wellbeing. MECC for Mental Health can support them to support themselves as well as others.
• The mental health community transformation programme seeks to integrate holistic support with mental health provision so that people are supported with all their needs. VCSE partners tend to step into this gap, again without necessarily the knowledge, skills and support.

How did you train to become a MECC for Mental Health trainer?

I attended an on-line Lead Trainer course for 2 non-consecutive days. I then delivered the programme to a group of people wanting to be trainers (and delivered day 2 for a second group). I delivered the programme to several groups across the borough.

The training was excellent. The trainers were enthusiastic and experienced, they were generous with their knowledge.

The resources developed by RSPH are excellent. They are very comprehensive and cover every aspect you might need as a trainer. After the 2 days I felt very confident in my role as a Lead Trainer.

How was the experience of organising and delivering MECC for Mental Health training?

Delivering the Train the Trainer course was enjoyable. The people who attended were passionate about the subject area and were interactive. While I had prepared beforehand to ensure I was familiar with the resources, it helped cement the content. I felt very confident with the product.

I have them delivered several versions of the training locally as part of our workforce development programme.

I particularly like that RSPH give permission to flex the training to be ensure it is accessible for the different audiences.

Can you provide a brief description of the group/s you delivered the training to? 

I have delivered to the following groups:

• Train the trainers on behalf of the RSPH.
• Family Hub Teams. Family Hub teams are local authority early intervention workers to support the families experiencing the most health inequalities. I was able to offer a shorter version of the MECC MH training and linked it with fuel poverty and lifestyle behaviours. The session was part of a team building day, in a community session and there was about 25 people. The aim was to raise awareness and consider how they could change their practice following the training.
• Local Authority social care front door team. The ask was to support them to consider their own mental wellbeing as well as ensure they felt they could support people who called their service. They do not tend to hold a caseload, but rather connect people with the correct social care team (or other partners) based on their needs. There were about 8 staff and it was at their offices.
• GP Practice: I was asked to deliver a session as part of their Better Health at Work Award. The focus was to be on their own wellbeing. The session was delivered in 1 hour in their lunch break, in the waiting room. The whole primary care team was present (GPs, Nurses, Admin etc) and there were about 13 people.
• Multi-agency session. We are offering a 2 hour module as part of our workforce programme. The training is delivered from our training room. We offer it to groups of 8 to 16 people. They are open courses so anyone who volunteers or works in the area can attend free of charge. The session is offered as an awareness raising session (MECC for MH).
• Refugee session. We were asked to take part in a promotion session for people who were supported by a local charity following relocating in the area after being asylum seekers. The session was 2 x 20 minute table discussions. Each table had about 8 people present. I focused on the stress bucket and healthy v unhealthy coping strategies. I relied on translators to aid the discussion.

Can you provide a brief description of the training programme you delivered? 

See above. The non-RSPH training has been reduced to an average of 2 hours. It is difficult to deliver full days as people tend to struggle. The funding we have needs to deliver a wide range of modules too so the resource needs to be used efficiently. The training is open to all disciplines, agencies across the borough. We offer (as the previous answer shows) open sessions which are generic and then offer more bespoke sessions to closed groups. The focus can change depending what matters to the audience.

How do you think the training has been received by participants?

It was been received very well. When asked how we did that day everyone marked us Excellent or Good, in fact mainly Excellent. When asked how confident they were to implement the new knowledge and skills everyone said High or Very High.

They liked the informal discussion. I don’t stand at the front. I sit and share from the start that I learn as much from participants as they do from me. That I love to converse so to make my job more enjoyable I ask that they jump in as we go.

They most common word used to describe the training was informative.

They liked the new knowledge and felt they had a framework to work too.

Very few comments are shard about what they like the least. One person didn’t like the connecting ice breaker and some don’t like the role play – the practice. We get this a lot….people find the practice the most helpful and they enjoy it the least as it makes them step out of their comfort zone.

What difference do you think MECC for Mental Health will bring to the people you trained?

It is supportive of both the people themselves and in supporting others. It is pitched at a level that volunteers and staff can utilise, both for themselves. It challenges you to think about language, about the resources we use and if accessible to all. It provides a framework on which you can have a discussion. It prepares people with a range of assets with which they can link people to based on their needs. The feedback has been extremely positive.

Any other comments you would like to add?

A lot of work has gone into the project, this is obvious. The materials are excellent. The content is appropriate, it is accessible to many and complimentary of the health and social care system. I have thoroughly enjoyed being involved and will continue to deliver beyond the project.