Co-production – involving people with an equal say in the design, development and, increasingly, delivery of services – is at the heart of the Alliance’s way of working.
Context and key challenges
The people we support consistently tell us that they want to work with people who have similar experiences as them. This helps them to feel more comfortable in sharing their stories and being fully understood.
Similarly, when we design and develop services it is crucial that people who use these services and those that care for them are genuinely involved, with real power to help shape them.
What we offer
Peers
We have peers (people with lived experience of mental health issues) working to support people in each of our Living Well Centres. We also have peers who support people in our inpatient beds, helping them to be prepared for when they are ready to be discharged.
CAPSA
We have recently launched our pioneering CAPSA (Culturally Appropriate Peer Support and Advocacy) service. CAPSA employs peers from our local Black communities to ensure our services fully understand the experiences and needs of these communities. This helps those being supported feel that our services ‘get me’ and to build trust with the mental health system.
The South London and Maudsley’s Lambeth Service User and Carer Advisory Group (SUCAG)
The South London and Maudsley’s Lambeth Service User and Carer Advisory Group (SUCAG) continues to be a vital way in which people with lived experience can get involved in shaping and delivering mental health services. People are paid for their time whilst working with like-minded people and making a real difference. We are actively looking for more people to get involved. If you’d like to find out more, email Alice Glover on Alice.Glover@slam.nhs.uk, or register here.
Carers
We refer to people who look after their family, friends and neighbours – either full or part time – as carers. Carers are a vital part of the health and care system, giving up their time, usually with no financial support, to care for someone. We are increasingly realising how important it is to involve carers when we are supporting people with their mental health. Carers will usually spend much more time with the person then we do and will know them much better, seeing signs of when they are getting worse and knowing what works when they are distressed. We are working closely with the Carers’ Hub Lambeth a Brixton based charity that works with carers aged 5 and upwards – to increase carers’ involvement in our services.
We run an online fortnightly support group for carers on a Tuesday evening. Led by Lee Roach, Lambeth’s Head Occupational Therapist, alongside a community pharmacist, the group provides support to carers, help to navigate the local health and care system, problem solving, signposting and advice. We would welcome more carers to join this group, if you are interested please email Lee.Roach@slam.nhs.uk
Community commissioners
We’ve introduced these new roles to employ people with experience of or interest in Lambeth mental health services to be part of our top-level decision-making groups and to help review our services. Community Commissioners are supported and mentored by experienced staff and are reimbursed for their time, which is around one or two days per week.
If you are interested in this opportunity to play a part in deciding the future of our services and to increase your experience of participating in strategic decision-making processes, please email Guy Swindle.
Solidarity in a Crisis
This is an out of hours Crisis Line (delivered by Certitude) that provides peer support over the phone for adults experiencing a mental health crisis. It is open Monday to Friday from 6pm to midnight and Saturday and Sunday from midday to midnight – freephone 0300 123 1922.
Our next steps
We are increasing service user and carer involvement in our decision-making and aim to expand our CAPSA service, further increasing the number of peers working in our Alliance services.
We are asking those we support and their carers how we can ensure that they have the opportunity to get involved or give their views in the way that works best for them.
We will continue to recruit community commissioners and support them to help us make more informed decisions.
Case Study: Mental Health Carers Peer Support Group
Unpaid carers play an essential role in the lives of many people supported by the Living Well Network Alliance. An important link between the Alliance and local unpaid carers, is the monthly Mental Health Carers Peer Support Group, run by the Carers´ Hub Lambeth.
The Mental Health Peer Support Group offers Lambeth based carers space to connect and share with fellow carers and to keep abreast of latest mental health developments. And during 2022-3 over 50 carers attended the group and benefitted from the support provided. Alongside valuable and insightful information from speakers, the peer support element of the group ensures that carers´ own wellbeing is supported. The group creates a space to share experiences with others in similar positions and helps carers build new friendships and feel less isolated.
“I feel less alone and more accepting of our situation. It’s wonderful to be able to talk about mental illness without shame because the group understands”
Mo, Streatham
“Attending the group is helping enormously. Listening and sharing with other carers helps broaden insight and understanding”
Lara, Stockwell
The Carers´ Hub Lambeth also supports many carers who experience their own mental health difficulties, which can be exacerbated by the fallout from their caring role. They regularly connect carers to the support offered by the Single Point of Access, 24-hour crisis line, Solidarity In a Crisis and Lambeth Talking Therapies.
The Living Well Network Alliance are active participants in the Carers Collaborative and Carers Collaborative Strategy Group through their representatives Lee Roach and Nigel Boyd. We will continue to partner with Carers Hub Lambeth to support occupational therapy student placements, provide carer awareness training for professionals across the Borough and help Lambeth Carers to navigate the complex health and social care system.
Can you help us?
We have a short survey that anyone who use our services is invited to complete. It will take less than three minutes and will tell us how well we are doing and what we need to improve.