Stimulating Demand for Learning for People with Mental Health Difficulties

The project aims to identify strategies that work to stimulate and increase demand for, and participation in learning, by people with mental health difficulties and to report on and disseminate this information. The key objectives are to:

1. Identify key strategies used by learning and skills providers to promote learning to people with mental health difficulties
2. Establish baseline data relating to current levels of engagement with learning by people with mental health
3. Implement and test out specific strategies to increase demand for learning
4. Demonstrate, measure, report on and disseminate what works to boost demand within identified settings

The work is based on an action research model using pilot sites across the country who will identify what they currently do to stimulate demand, and then implement specific strategies within their organizations aimed at building on this work to create an evidence base of good practice. This work will be monitored and evaluated by NIACE.

• People with mental health difficulties will benefit from greater opportunities to participate in learning and the encouragement to succeed through engagement activity which has been proven to be effective.
• Providers will benefit from the increased evidence base of strategies that work and can help them to engage more effectively with learners with mental health difficulties.
• Policy makers and funding bodies will benefit by having an increased knowledge of activity that works to stimulate demand.

The action-research work of the pilot sites commenced in September 2009. Data and feedback will be monitored and collected on an on-going basis until December 2009 for interim reporting back to the LSC in January 2010.

Pilot sites will be supported to continue their work after this for continued evaluation and dissemination until March 2010.

A resource will be developed that will enable the key outcomes to be shared with other providers who are keen to improve engagement with learners with mental health difficulties and would benefit from new ideas to stimulate demand for learning.

The resource will be a downloadable web-based resource.

By supporting specific work and effective local partnerships that will encourage people with mental health difficulties to access learning provision it will be possible to gain a clearer understanding of the demand for learning from this group of learners and to identify effective strategies for supporting people with mental health difficulties to take the steps that will enable them to access learning.

The key element of any such strategies is likely to come from the creation of strong local partnerships.

Lin Westmoreland
Regional Project Officer: Mental Health and Learning, South West Region
lin.westmoreland@niace.org.uk
+44 (0)7917 507 487
NIACE
21 De Montfort Street
Leicester
LE1 7GE