Mental Health

Mental Health Partnership Programme

The Mental Health Partnership Programme, led by NIACE in partnership with the LSC and the Inclusion Institute is a multi- sector network of policy makers, managers, practitioners, learners and service users from the learning and skills, health and social care, employment and voluntary sectors. Overseen by a cross-government Transition Management Group it seeks to influence policy and to support the development of good practice that promotes and improves learning and skills opportunities for people who experience mental health problems.

In 2009 we supported the LSC to produce the ‘LSC Mental Health Strategy - The Way Forward - [PDF]'. The strategy outlines the LSC vision 'that people who experience mental health difficulties should by accessing learning and skills provision, be able to lead active and fulfilling lives as part of their communities and in education, training and employment, in a way that sustaind sustains mental wellbeing'.

Within the strategy is an action plan. As you continue to explore this webpage you will see that within three over-arching strands of work - Getting into learning for people who experience mental health difficulties, Addressing the needs of particular groups of learners with mental health difficulties and Improving learning and skills provision for people who experience mental health difficulties - there are activities and numerous projects that address particular aspects of the mental health strategy.

We will produce a final report on the work of the Mental Health Partnership Programme by April 2010.

For further details contact:
Kathryn James
Programme Director - Mental Health
NIACE
21 De Montfort Street
Leicester
LE1 7GE
kathryn.james@niace.org.uk

Getting into learning for people who experience mental health difficulties

This strand of work is concerned with projects that are about supporting people who experience mental health difficulties to access the diverse range of learning and skills provision available. These projects include:

• Stimulating demand for learning
• Enabling declaration
• Take Ten People - Integrating employment and learning and skills for people with experience of mental health difficulties
• Making the Journey - transport and travel issues for people who experience mental health difficulties
• Back on Track 2 - improving partnership working between FE colleges and Early Intervention in Psychosis Services
• Increasing take up of Work-based learning provision by people who experience mental health difficulties
• Reading for Pleasure - using reading and reading groups to build confidence in learning
• The Really Useful Book of Learning and Earning 2010

Addressing the needs of particular groups of learners with mental health difficulties

Although the work of the Partnership Programme is concerned to promote access to learning for all people who experience mental health difficulties, we acknowledge that certain groups of people with mental health difficulties may experience multiple barriers to learning and skills because of age, ethnicity, other disability or because of their particular mental health needs. These projects include:

• Race into learning - Engaging people from black and minority ethnic communities with mental health difficulties into learning and skills
• Older people, mental health and adult learning
• Supporting people with Personality Disorder in FE
• Learning and skills opportunities in Forensics Services
• 1 in 4 learners information series: Your Learning Your Choice

Improving learning and skills provision for people who experience mental health difficulties

This strand of work is concerned with improving services for people who learn and work in learning and skills provision. This includes projects an activity such as:

• Regional Mental Health Partnership Programme networks
• Involving learners and service users
• Workforce development
• Mental Health First Aid Instructor training for work-based learning providers (South West)
• Leadership and Impact
• Working Well - promoting mental health and wellbeing for staff in Post-16 education and training
• Workforce equality in FE: recruitment of staff with mental health difficulties in North East England
• Development of resources, a newsletter and training events