Young people shape mental health services for their peers
A research programme is allowing 16- to 25-year-olds to develop local services to help tackle poor mental health among their peers
Mei Leng Yew
- The Guardian, Wednesday 21 July 2010
Rock climbing is one of the activities supported by Right Here to promote young people’s wellbeing. Photograph: Mei Leng YewYoung people with poor mental health could soon have access to effective and innovative support services developed by their peers. Right Here is a research programme launched this month by the Mental Health Foundation that allows 16- to 25-year-olds in four areas of the UK to develop local services that tackle issues ranging from isolation to low self-esteem.What is groundbreaking about Right Here is the level of the target audience’s participation. “Listening to young people is at the heart of the programme,” says Elise Le Clerc, the programme’s youth participation manager. “Only by working closely with those who have experienced the current system can we really design new services that young people will feel comfortable using.”
A national advisory panel brings together young people from across the country, many of whom have struggled with poor mental health and have had negative experiences after seeking out government services.
Katie Wilson, 24, who sits on the panel, is one such person. “I’ve seen the flaws within the school and healthcare systems,” she says. “I don’t want my negative experiences to have been in vain. I’ve seen plenty of healthcare ‘professionals’: useful ones and rubbish ones. I’m in a good position to say what works and what doesn’t.”
Four Right Here youth panels have been developing services in Sheffield, Brighton and Hove, Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, and in east London. In Sheffield, it has devised a counselling project in the city’s north-east, where there are many young people not in education, employment or training. The team has also developed a peer support programme to tackle isolation suffered by those who live on estates on the edge of the city.
On the south coast, Right Here has placed greater emphasis on preventative measures, with the panel organising free courses in rock-climbing, stand-up comedy and drama. As well as building confidence and self-esteem, the programme aims to build emotional resilience so that youngsters are more able to cope when stressful events disrupt their lives.
In Fermanagh, the youth panel is focusing on delivery methods for rural communities, such as an e-learning resource and exploring how digital media can play a role in counselling and support networks.
In Newham, London, which has a high black and ethnic minority population, Right Here is training 35 young people to act as wellbeing champions. They can then be spokespeople and role models for the community, many of whose members find it hard to access services because they fear their cultural needs will be overlooked or misunderstood.
With £6m of backing from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, all four projects are set to run until 2014, working with young people to collect, analyse and evaluate public opinion and the experiences of their service users. The aim is to design services that not only work on a local level but can be replicated nationally to benefit all young people in the UK.
Mei Leng Yew is on the Right Here national youth advisory panel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jul/21/young-people-mental-health-support
Phoenix is the editor of this site and was diagnosed with bipolar twenty years ago. In between 8 periods of illness and hospitalisation she trained as a garden designer and was a awarded an RHS Diploma, gained a first class degree in Cultural Studies and a Certificate in Education that enables her to lecture in Recovery in Mental Health to psychiatric nurse students and mental health professionals at universities.
Phoenix leads a diverse life which she attributes to Wellness Recovery Action Planning and all aspects of Recovery. In the last 2 years she performed stand up comedy. Laughter truly is the best medicine! Now she is concentrating on being involved in improving conditions for inpatients and service receivers trustwide. And training in WRAP, Recovery Star and the new Advanced Statement and some gardening for health. Also with some great new art projects. 
