The State of Mind
project has used rugby, partnership working and simple messages to
educate men about mental health. Photograph: R Wesley/Getty
Healthcare professionals need to reach out to a younger
generation of sporting stars and fans by tailoring their message and
working with new partners. So say the team behind the hugely successful State of Mind programme, which raises awareness of mental fitness and helps maintain mental wellbeing.
Following the suicide of former rugby league player Terry Newton in 2010, a letter to a local newspaper called for closer links between clubs and the NHS to look after players' mental fitness. Yet young males are notoriously hard to reach: 75% of those who kill themselves are men, says the Men's Health Forum. But men are less likely to visit their GP than women, and one in eight is dependent on alcohol.
"We wanted to provide simple messages about mental fitness and building mental resilience among young men, and deliver messages in accessible and targeted ways," says Phil Cooper, nurse consultant in mental health and substance abuse at 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who has now worked with mental health substance misuse practitioner Carol Ede to deliver education sessions to more than 600 rugby players.
Yet delivering those messages meant building new partnerships across primary and secondary mental health care, other NHS organisations and commissioners and the charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm).
"This campaign had to be radically different and non-compromising in its approach or we risked watering it down and reinforcing the problem health services face – low engagement with men," says Simon Howes, Merseyside Calmzone development co-ordinator.
A round of rugby league fixtures was themed around mental fitness and resilience messages, alongside "Help a Mate" education sessions to normalise negative feelings and encourage people to seek help earlier. During fixtures, rugby league fans were handed a credit-card sized handout featuring steps to mental wellbeing.
Using social media and branding is key to engaging hard-to-reach groups, believes Cooper: players now train in shirts bearing the State of Mind logo, branded merchandise is widely available, and the website gives links to further help. The campaign now has around 4,000 Twitter followers.
"The key message is to target one's audience," says Malcolm Rae, independent health care advisor and one of the State of Mind project founders. "NHS trusts can contribute resources for wider initiatives for the collective benefit, and the learning and knock-on gains for the organisation can be massive, in terms of media links, informing communities, shared learning and pooling of ideas and resources which all leads to greater impact."
Other NHS trusts can now use the State of Mind model to work with sports clubs, colleges, shopping centres and other hard-to-reach groups, Cooper says.
The message to health professionals is clear, says Howes. "Don't be afraid of bigger thinking. We have to innovate and change, to reshape our services to meet people's needs.
Cooper agrees. "This is a massive part of addressing health inequalities," he says. "Other health professionals can now use what we are doing to deliver health messages locally, and with far greater impact."
Source: Guardian Professional.
Following the suicide of former rugby league player Terry Newton in 2010, a letter to a local newspaper called for closer links between clubs and the NHS to look after players' mental fitness. Yet young males are notoriously hard to reach: 75% of those who kill themselves are men, says the Men's Health Forum. But men are less likely to visit their GP than women, and one in eight is dependent on alcohol.
"We wanted to provide simple messages about mental fitness and building mental resilience among young men, and deliver messages in accessible and targeted ways," says Phil Cooper, nurse consultant in mental health and substance abuse at 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who has now worked with mental health substance misuse practitioner Carol Ede to deliver education sessions to more than 600 rugby players.
Yet delivering those messages meant building new partnerships across primary and secondary mental health care, other NHS organisations and commissioners and the charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm).
"This campaign had to be radically different and non-compromising in its approach or we risked watering it down and reinforcing the problem health services face – low engagement with men," says Simon Howes, Merseyside Calmzone development co-ordinator.
A round of rugby league fixtures was themed around mental fitness and resilience messages, alongside "Help a Mate" education sessions to normalise negative feelings and encourage people to seek help earlier. During fixtures, rugby league fans were handed a credit-card sized handout featuring steps to mental wellbeing.
Using social media and branding is key to engaging hard-to-reach groups, believes Cooper: players now train in shirts bearing the State of Mind logo, branded merchandise is widely available, and the website gives links to further help. The campaign now has around 4,000 Twitter followers.
"The key message is to target one's audience," says Malcolm Rae, independent health care advisor and one of the State of Mind project founders. "NHS trusts can contribute resources for wider initiatives for the collective benefit, and the learning and knock-on gains for the organisation can be massive, in terms of media links, informing communities, shared learning and pooling of ideas and resources which all leads to greater impact."
Other NHS trusts can now use the State of Mind model to work with sports clubs, colleges, shopping centres and other hard-to-reach groups, Cooper says.
The message to health professionals is clear, says Howes. "Don't be afraid of bigger thinking. We have to innovate and change, to reshape our services to meet people's needs.
Cooper agrees. "This is a massive part of addressing health inequalities," he says. "Other health professionals can now use what we are doing to deliver health messages locally, and with far greater impact."
Source: Guardian Professional.
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