At Health in Mind we strive to provide the best possible service to all.

However, we know that there is always room for improvement and we are seeking people who have used the Health in Mind service to help us shape it.

If you have accessed Health in Mind previously, there are lots of ways in which you can be helpful.

"I got involved as I’m passionate about mental health and want to promote awareness" -Louise

"I’m interested in how the service works and helping reduce stigma about mental health and see services become better suited to meet people where they are at." -Steve

"I had such a good experience with Health in mind I wanted to get involved in promoting the benefits of the service to others." -Louise

"This service has given me back my life. By being part of the group I hope to spread the message & help others." -Steve

 The benefits of being involved

• You can help others improve their lives and thereby use your experience of overcoming difficulties in a positive way
• You can help shape the continued development of the service
• You can help promote mental health services and reduce stigma
• You can meet people with similar life-experiences.
• You can develop new skills.
• You can build up confidence.

In what ways can you be involved?

Depending on your interests and how much or little time you have to spare there are different options you may wish to get involved in:

• Being part of the Service User Steering Group.
• Being part of an email review group.
• Being part of the interview panel when we recruit new staff.
• Peer Support

How to become involved?

If you have completed your course of treatment at Health in Mind and you decide that you would like to become involved please email us at SPNT.Healthinmindfeedback@nhs.net and let us know what you are interested in and what your contact details are.

If emailing us does not suit you please ring us on 0300 0030 130 and someone will take your details over the phone.

Once we have received this someone from Health in Mind will get back to you in the following weeks and you will have an opportunity to find out more about the different options which are described below. 

Service User Steering Group

This is a quote from someone who is part of our Service User Steering Group:

"As someone who has benefitted hugely from HiM and CBT in general, I am eager to help shape this fantastic service by providing feedback of my experiences.  Since being part of the Service User Steering Group I am thrilled to sit with other service users alongside the team responsible for the running and development of HiM.  Combining input from service users and HiM professionals generates discussions that produce well-informed decisions with insiders’ perspectives, helping HiM to provide the most effective service possible.  By articulating the positive effect HiM has had on me at these meetings, not only helps me understand the therapy I have received more fully, but will hopefully have an equally positive impact on the service itself."

This group consists of people who have used Health in Mind Services and are interested in shaping what the service does. Feedback gathered from this group will be shared in the service and used to make decisions about a variety of issues.

The group is chaired by a clinical lead in the service and attended by other staff members. All those attending are committed to improving the service and believe that those who know the service from their own experience are essential in helping to do this.

The group discusses a range of issues. The following are just some examples of what has come up:

• How to promote the service
• What the website should look like to give good information and appeal to those who need help.
• How to phrase certain standard letters.
• How to best introduce newcomers into this group
• How those who have used the service can help in staff training events etc.

Our friendly group, currently meets by Zoom, on a monthly basis. Occasionally, the group agree that it might be useful to give more detailed feedback by email, however, you decide how much time you would be able to offer outside the monthly meetings.

Email Review Group

You may not be able to come to meetings but willing to give your views via email, for example on publicity and letters, or your thoughts on the way we plan to do things.

Being part of interview panels

We are keen to have service users join us on our interview panels and help us select new staff as it is important to us that we recruit the highest quality people. 

You will not be expected to have prior experience of interviewing or to have done any training in this.

You will be supported by the other interviewers and all you need to know will be explained to you before the interviews. During the interview you will be invited to ask one or more of pre-set questions and give your impression of the interviewee.

Peer Support

We do not yet have an established peer support system up though we are keen to develop one. We are aiming to have peer supporters who can help in a variety of ways:

For example Peer supporters might speak to people who are nervous about coming to an initial appointment or a course to share their own experience and encourage others. Peer supporters may also accompany someone to an appointment to help them get there, or co-facilitate courses.

These are some of the ideas and work is being done by a small group of people who have used the service and a clinical lead. They have met and thought about what is needed to make peer support work and are in the process of designing a training programme for peer supporters.

If you would like to come to such meetings and get involved in shaping what peer support could look like please let us know. The more help we can get with developing this the sooner we’ll be able to offer peer support in Health in Mind.

If you are interested in getting involved please email us at SPNT.Healthinmindfeedback@nhs.net and let us know how you'd like to become involved. We really appreciate your help.