Published:
6:00 a.m. January 23, 2022
Plans have been expressed for a countywide mental health survey as part of public health efforts to form a 10-year strategy to address wellness.
The Suffolk Board of Health and Welfare has agreed to allocate £2.5m from the Covid-19 Outbreak Management Fund to tackle public mental health, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, the board agreed to explore options for a Suffolk-wide survey to establish a baseline of mental health needs in the county.
That will then be used to inform a 10-year plan to help support people across the county.
While it’s too early for measures to be outlined, it could include free training for employers to support the well-being of their employees and those in disadvantaged communities, the board heard.
Suffolk public health director Stuart Keeble said: “When we talk about mental health we jump straight to our mental health services at the Norfolk and Suffolk mental health trust, and the transformation around community mental health services .
“Really, we also need to approach through the preventative lens and recognize that if we’re going to have an impact and help reduce the impact on those broader services, and for our residents to have good mental wellness, we need to look across the spectrum. ”
He added: “It’s about how we can maintain and help people have good mental health and well-being, but it’s not necessarily about an individual prescription or treatment. It is also about what actions we can take at a community and organizational level, to help people cope with the ups and downs of life.”
It comes as this year’s annual public health report focuses on mental health in communities.
Martin Seymour, acting deputy director of public health, said that along with funding a shift in thinking was needed to support mental health in all communities.
He added: “Our next steps will be to rapidly explore options to conduct a Suffolk-wide public mental health survey to establish that baseline of wellbeing, use that baseline data and other local information to develop a systematic plan of where to invest. in public mental health protected factors can be used most effectively.”
