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Wirral NHS team launches
online toolkit to transform mental health education
AN innovative online toolkit to
transform the way Schools deliver mental health education is being launched
during a special event at Wallasey Town Hall. Cheshire and Wirral Partnership
NHS Foundation Trust's (CWP) Wirral Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
is collaborating with Schools from across the region to deliver the Peer
Educator project, which trains young people to deliver mental health education
to fellow students.
The Health Foundation has now commissioned Wirral CAMHS to co-design an online
toolkit, which will be used as a national blueprint to enable Schools in other
areas to set up their own Peer Educator projects. The toolkit was launched at
Wallasey Town Hall, on World Mental Health Day,10 October 2017, with professionals
from CWP demonstrating the success of a 3 year pilot project.
Peer led psychological education is education delivered by people of a similar
age or background and has been found to improve mental health, resilience and
social relationships whilst also decreasing Hospital admissions.
The Peer Educator project involves the recruitment of 2 students from each
School who are trained to deliver a lesson on mental health and provide Mental
Health 1st Aid. A Peer Education Pathway is also developed to ensure students
who are in need of assistance can access appropriate support. 17 Schools have
already participated in the Peer Educator project with an estimated 1,500 young
people receiving a lesson on mental health from a fellow student.
The Wirral CAMHS team will be sharing their insights with educators and mental
health professionals through the online toolkit, which can be accessed at CWP's
award winning CAMHS
website from around the country and are
hopeful that the project will alter the way mental health education is
delivered.
Dr Fiona Pender, CWP Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and Clinical Director,
said:- "We know that peer led education in Schools is an effective way to
tackle the stigma associated with mental health, yet our project remains the
only one of its kind in the country. Our aim is to share the blueprint of our
successful pilot project on a national scale so that peer education can spread
to other Schools across the country.
I'd like to thank all of the Schools who have participated in this project
already and encourage any other Wirral based educators who are interested in
getting involved in future to contact our team at Wirral CAMHS."
Any Wirral Based mental health professionals or educators who are interested in
the Peer Educator project can contact the Wirral CAMHS team on:- 0151 488 7474
or send then an
email.
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