2014 saw the successful completion of a 12 month programme coordinated by IMHCN in South and West Wales to introduce a new way of working with people with mental health issues alongside local communities, professionals and services.
IMHCN worked with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board, Hywel Dda Health Board, West Wales Action for Mental Health, Local Authorities and other significant partners in bringing together groups known as Action Learning Sets.
The Learning Sets were made up of committed mental health practitioners, service users, family members, community organisations and services and NGO's who joined together to form trusting working groups. These groups embarked on a process of examining all aspects of the needs of people and how these needs are met now. The objective of this exercise is to build a new way of working together and to share responsibility in enabling people and local communities in facilitating recovery and resilience.
This innovative approach seeks to understand the the whole life needs of people with mental health issues and develop ways to meet these needs. In the Actions Sets we sought to develop trusting relationships with each other andlearning from each others experiences. The importance of trusting relationships between a service user, their family members, practitioners and significant others was recognised as fundamental. Throughout the Action Learning Set programme the significance of relationships was applied in determining ways to assist people in overcoming the challenges in their lives.
The successful completion of the Learning Sets was celebrated at a two day international conference in Carmarthen, Wales that was attended by all the stakeholders and specially invited guest speakers from around the world.
The partners have agreed to continue the work of the Learning Sets for a further year to involve more people in this programme. The objective is to change the thinking, practice and system to improve the lives of service users in all respects.
If you would like to know more about Action Learning sets contact us at [email protected].