Shift Review Panel publish independent reviews of two new employment resources

Shift Review Panel
The Shift Review Panel have published independent reviews of two new employment resources from Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Trust.

The Shift Review Panel assesses the quality and impact of materials designed to help employers promote mental wellbeing and manage mental ill health in the workplace. The panel is funded by Shift, but operates independently.

You can download the full review of the resource for all employees here
And download the full review of the resource for managers here

Find out more about the Shift Review Panel.

Shift Videocast 16: Rachael talks about employment

Rachael talking about her experiences at work
Rachael talks about her experience of depression and about the attitudes of others.

Click here to watch the video.

Would you like to be in one of our videocasts?

Shift videocast podcast logo
If you live in England and would like to find out how you can share your experiences of the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health, email us at shift@nmhdu.org.uk. Read More...

Shift Videocast 15: Tim tells his story

Tim
Tim talks about his experience of depression and how this has affected his home and work life.

Click here to watch the video.

Would you like to be in one of our videocasts?

Shift videocast podcast logo
If you live in England and would like to find out how you can share your experiences of the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health, email us at shift@nmhdu.org.uk. Read More...

Shift's 'Attitudes to Mental Illness 2010' research report published

National Statistics logo
Shift's national survey into attitudes towards mental illness has been published.

Since March 1994, the Department of Health has placed a set of questions on TNS’s Face-to-Face Consumer Omnibus about public attitudes towards mental illness. From 1994 to 1997 the questions were asked on an annual basis and then every third year up until 2003.

Since 2007 Shift has carried out the survey annually. The surveys serve as a benchmark, enabling measurement of whether attitudes are improving or worsening over time. The questionnaire included a number of statements about mental illness. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with each statement.

Key points from the report:

  • People are broadly sympathetic towards people with a mental illness.
  • However, some attitudes towards people with mental illness are worse compared to when the Department of Health first commissioned the poll in 1994 whilst a number have improved. Several attitudes that had worsened over the period up until 1997 have since improved.
  • Attitudes to a number of statements have changed between 2009 and 2010.
  • Opinions on some statements changed towards greater tolerance, for example:
    ‘Locating mental health facilities in a residential area downgrades the neighbourhood’ - agreement with this statement decreased from 21% to 18%.
  • Some opinions moved more in favour of integrating people with mental illness into the community, for example: ‘Residents have nothing to fear from people coming into their neighbourhood to obtain mental health services’ – agreement with this statement increased from 62% to 66%.
  • On one item though, opinions moved less in favour of integration: ‘Mental hospitals are an outdated means of treating people with mental illness’ – agreement with this statement fell from 37% in 2009 to 33% in 2010.

Find out more about research commissioned by Shift.

Download the full 2010 report from the Department of Health website
See our Research page for links to the full versions of previous attitude surveys

Shift Videocast 14: Kate's poems about attitudes towards anorexia and mental illness

Kate
Kate writes poems influenced by her experience of anorexia and depression. In this video she reads two of her poems.

Click here to watch the video.

Would you like to be in one of our videocasts?

Shift videocast podcast logo
If you live in England and would like to find out how you can share your experiences of the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health, email us at shift@nmhdu.org.uk. Read More...

Ethnicity and use of the Mental Health Act conference

Ethnicity and use of the mental health act conference
Shift will be supporting a conference examining ethnicity and the use of the Mental Health Act.

The conference is taking place in London on 24 May and speakers include Melba Wilson, National Director of our partner organisation the National Equalities in Mental Health Programme.

More information about the event, including a flyer and booking forms, can be found here. Read More...

Shift Videocast 13: Nick talks about breaking down 'us and them' attitudes

Nick video podcast
Nick is a consultant psychiatrist and clinical director who works in the mental health trust where he was once a patient.

In this video, Nick talks about the breaking down of 'us and them' attitudes.

Click here to watch the video.

Would you like to be in one of our videocasts?

Shift videocast podcast logo
If you live in England and would like to find out how you can share your experiences of the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health, email us at shift@nmhdu.org.uk. Read More...

Shift Videocast 12: Rachael talks about depression

video podcast image
Rachael talks about her experience of depression and about the attitudes of others.

Click here to watch the video.

Would you like to be in one of our videocasts?

Shift videocast podcast logo
If you live in England and would like to find out how you can share your experiences of the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health, email us at shift@nmhdu.org.uk. Read More...

Shift Update: February 2010

Click the "Read More..." link below to read this Shift Update newsletter.

If you would like to be sent our Shift Update newsletter by email, send a blank message to: shift-update+subscribe@googlegroups.com. Read More...

Shift Review Panel publish independent review of MHF's What Works For You booklet

Shift Review Panel
The Shift Review Panel have published their independent review of the Mental Health Foundation's What Works for You? booklet for employers.

The Shift Review Panel assesses the quality and impact of materials designed to help employers promote mental wellbeing and manage mental ill health in the workplace. The panel is funded by Shift, but operates independently.

What Works For You cover image
The review found that What Works for You?:
  • explains simple steps people at work can take to support a colleague who is experiencing a mental health problem. It is easy-to-read and engaging and the advice is practical and relevant.
  • It includes a short explanation about mental health, and more detail about some common mental health problems.
  • There is practical advice about how to talk to someone, listening tips, responding in a crisis and keeping in touch when someone is off sick with a mental health problem.
  • The brief section about what you can do as a manager provides some practical guidance on how to deal with someone they think has a mental health problem. It would be helpful to acknowledge in this section that there is much more that you need to do as a manager to support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
  • Overall, the booklet could provide a useful part of an organisations’ mental health management programme, but would probably need to be tailored to each organisation – for example, procedures around reasonable adjustments and Occupational Health advice would differ; and the image on the front would need to be less ‘industrial’ for some organisations. The resource should be made more generic, or alternatively targeted more specifically.
  • The leaflet could be useful as a stand-alone item to help ensure people experiencing mental health problems get valuable support from their colleagues.

You can download the full review of What Works for You? here

Visit the What Works for You? page on the MHF website

Find out more about the Shift Review Panel here