Making it Real narratives for mental health

Our ambition is to see more people with mental health needs and carers experience the full benefits of personalised care. We are therefore thinking about Making it Real in the context of mental health care settings so that people who work in this field can see what good personalised, community based support looks like and can consider how they can help to implement the necessary changes.

NHS England have asked National Voices and the Think Local Act Personal partnership to produce materials highlighting what is most important for people with mental health needs. We are keen to gather information on how different services should work together to make sure people can access the support they need and want. In the future these materials may influence national and local decision-makers in the way they plan, design and commission support and services for people.

We need your stories, information and ideas

We want to hear from everybody who has a view on mental health and wellbeing support including:

• People who access (or need) mental health support, carers and families

• User -led organisations and peer-led support networks

• Commissioners and providers of support, across health, public health, housing, education, transport, social care organisations

• Statutory organisations , third sector and social enterprises, community groups who work in the area of mental health and well being

• Seldom heard groups: ethnic minority groups, lesbian gay and bisexual groups, people in the criminal justice system, asylum seekers and refugees, care-experienced young people, gypsies and travellers and people from rural communities.

What we need:

We are seeking case studies, personal stories and blogs to demonstrate the following:

• insights into what integrated and person centred support can look like both within mental health services and across community based support

• examples of commissioning models that can lead to more person centred support and better outcomes for people including personal budgets across health and social care

• examples of innovation and we also want to hear about what happens on a day to day basis to provide sustainable support.

If you have already produced a set of "I" statements - defining what people want from mental health support, please send them to us with some information and background about how they were developed.

How to send us your information:

Complete the Making it Real Narratives for Mental Health Pro-forma and return it to sarahecarr@icloud.com Please mark the subject line of your email with "Making it Real narratives for mental health".

The deadline for submissions is: 5pm Friday 14th March 2014.