Everyone has ‘mental health’, just as we all have ‘physical health’. And like our physical health, there are times when our mental health is better than others.
What you eat, how you exercise, your work, the environment that you live in and the relationships you have with others can all effect your mental health.
Improving the mental health of the population in Scotland is a national priority, central to the Public Health Priorities for Scotland and Covid-19 recovery plans. By December 2020 it was clear that Covid-19 has had a profound negative effect on mental health throughout Scotland, both directly and indirectly. People’s needs have changed. Services have changed. Demand for support continues to increase. Keyworkers who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic are exhausted.
The Health Improvement team are currently leading on a project called Good Mental Health for All. This project is focused on working to refresh the mental health strategy for Shetland which will be focused on prevention, early intervention, community led support and population wellbeing.
The project is led by a focused and dedicated steering group that represent the following sectors:
- Lived Experience
- Public Health
- Primary Care
- Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Group
- Voluntary Action Shetland
- Community Hubs and Community Ethos Group
- Community Development
- Health Improvement
To create meaningful societal change a partnership approach is required, to tackle the local determinants of poor mental health, and work together to reach effective solutions. A partnership should focus on:
- Evidence-informed action
- Improving population mental health
- Addressing inequalities in mental health
- Promoting good mental health across the lifespan
- Addressing the needs of people with mental health problems
- Tackling stigma and discrimination
- Focusing on outcomes
The steering group have been working together to agree the scope of the refreshed mental health strategy, gather local data which demonstrates local need, develop a local mental health indicator ‘dataset’ and scoping of the strategic landscape, locally and nationally.
Community engagement work, involving a wide range of stakeholders and communities, was undertaken in 2023. Findings have been combined with other types of information to create a Mental Health and Wellbeing Evidence Base.
Have a look at the evidence base and summary of findings here: