We all have ‘mental health’
See Me, Scotland’s national programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination, has been working in partnership with Scottish Ambulance Service to get a better understanding of how we can best support people with lived experience of mental health problems when they reach out to us and/or use our services.
We all have ‘mental health’. It refers to the way we think and feel, and our ability to deal with ups and downs. Mental health problems can be hard for anyone to cope with but it can be made worse by having to deal with stigma and discrimination from others. Many people will not seek support due to the stigma they expect to face and the self-stigma of feeling a burden.
Scottish Ambulance Service’s duty of care towards the people we work with extends not only to their physical health but also their mental health; partnering with See Me and reaching out to people with lived-experience allows us to routinely check if our response is working for people and meeting their needs by conducting surveys and focus groups.
We want our mental health response to better reflect our approach, which strives to be person-centred, collaborative, and includes lived experience at its heart.
We want to invite you to an on-line focus group, so we can hear from you how we can better meet the needs of the people we support.
Please email SAS.mentalhealth@nhs.Scot with any questions or concerns and someone will happily get back to you!
