The local NHS trust, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL), is launching a project this month in Brent and the neighbouring boroughs around the disproportionate representation of patients from Black/African/Caribbean heritage being detained under the Mental Health Act and in crisis care.
The project is being led by the lived experience of patients and carers who are, or who care for, a person of Black/African/Caribbean heritage who has accessed mental health services.
It can be daunting to share your experiences. So to inspire patients and carers to come forward and share their experiences and recommendations, here’s Damon’s story - a patient who has a lived experience in mental health care and treatment.
“This project is important because it's inclusive of our voices, those of us with lived experience who can really shed light. It gives us a chance to embrace the subject of heritage, identity and society and its relevance to our experience inside the mental health system. This project has the ability to empower marginalised voices while also providing communicative bridges with carers, doctors and nurses to help them understand and identify what patients feel they need.
“The social awareness of mental health has definitely increased globally and this in turn has benefited care in terms of sensitivity and different approaches towards patients other than wholly medical. Attitudes and enlightenment can always be improved and I do believe that new, fruitful care packages filled with inclusive peer support programs, lived experience mentoring and a more realistic setting of helpfulness are keys to moving forward for the benefit of patients.”
Damon spoke about the changes he would like to see through this project and I’m hoping that others will follow him and share their stories. To take part in the project, contact: cnwl.jamesonedi@nhs.net
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