Enhancing family engagement in mental health services in Mayo
The HSE West North West Mental Health Services has launched a suite of service improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing family engagement.
Opening the launch, Charlie Meehan, Head of Mental Services Galway, Mayo and Roscommon stated: “Today’s initiatives were borne from feedback received from service users and family members across the region and clearly demonstrate the significance of ensuring the voices of those that use our services, and their supporters, are at the centre of service developments. This ensures not only that our mental health services meet the needs of our community, but also guarantees the best outcomes for the people we serve and their family members.”
Over an 18-month period, service users, family members and service providers co-produced a family peer website familypeersupport.ie aimed at providing a one stop shop for information for family members/carers/supporters of people using mental health services.
Mary O’Connell Gannon, a family peer support worker involved in co-developing the website, said: “When someone in your family experiences a mental health challenge, their entire social circle is impacted. It can be a scary time for all involved and it is important that family members know they are not alone and that there are supports out there specifically for them.”
The website covers an array of topics regarding family recovery and wellbeing, details supports and resources available for family members in their community, and is a central point of information for staff that are working in mental health services.
Another significant development launched was the HSELand Enhancing Family Training Programme with a series of supporting webinars. This training for staff is now live on the HSE training portal.
Clara Meehan, co-chair of the working group, explained: “The core objective of the training programme is to build positive working relationships between family members and ultimately improve recovery outcomes for the people availing of mental health services.”
Speaking at the event, Maria McGoldrick, chair of the working group and area lead for mental health engagement, noted: “One of the biggest challenges for staff when engaging with family members is consent. An overarching family involvement policy has been co-developed by the team that details the issue of consent when engaging with families.
“Whilst it is very common for a person experiencing mental health challenges for the first time not to want anyone involved, this can often be because the person themselves cannot understand what is happening. However, this can change over time as the person begins to feel stronger in their recovery journey.
“The policy echoes this and outlines the importance of re-visiting consent for family involvement at appropriate intervals and to highlight the benefits of family involvement to the person availing of mental health services.”
One key message Ms. McGoldrick emphasised about the policy to the attendees is that even if there is no consent for the family to be involved in the person's treatment and care, staff can and should listen to family members and signpost them to supports / resources for themselves.
Family friendly rooms are also being launched across the region with the Roscommon Acute Mental Health Unit Family Room now open and being enjoyed by family members visiting the unit.
Sinead McDermott, family peer support worker in Roscommon, showcased the welcoming family friendly room, outlining the therapeutic value to each item procured for the room.
Charlie Meehan closed the event, stating; “I feel a sense of great pride in the initiatives launched today. They will all undoubtedly enhance engagement with family members across the organisation and this is only the start of how we will work going forward.
“It is important that the voice of the people availing of our services and their supporters continue to be involved in service developments.”
Mr. Meehan thanked everyone involved in working on these projects and specifically thanked the service users and their supporters for giving their time to support the organisation advance recovery orientated mental health services.