What’s new with this project?
Last year’s project (2011) was designed to test out an asset-based approach for the promotion of positive mental health and well-being and to understand what worked and what didnโt.
At the end of the project we found evidence of the benefits of the approach for both people who use services and also for practitioners. Outputs of the project included a community map for Kirkintilloch which can be found here: http://www.iriss.org.uk/kirkintilloch – a full report of the process is also available via this website, as well as video clips of people talking about their experiences of being involved.
Based on this, the local authority and NHS are keen to understand how more practitioners can use the approach and resources that were developed. They are also keen to develop processes to make sure that the feedback from people who use services is used to change the way services are received.
What will the outputs of the project be?
Like last time, one of the outputs that will be created is a visual representation of what exists to help assist positive mental health and well-being – but this time we will develop the resource to include all areas of East Dunbartonshire.
We will co-create a tool for practitioners to use in 1-1 interventions with people who use services. Alongside this, we will provide training about assets-based approaches and will make these training plans available for others to learn from and develop.
We are also commissioning an independent evaluation of the project so that we can better understand:
- what supports and what gets in the way of implementation of an asset based approach
as well as, the difference the project/approach makes to:
- individuals receiving mental health services
- individuals participating in the community asset mapping sessions
- practitioners delivering mental health services
Who is involved in the project?
As with last time, the project partners include:
- ย ย ย People receiving support – individuals from the last project will be invited back to help design many elements of the current project
- ย ย ย East Dunbartonshire Council โ social work and health practitioners
- ย ย ย Voluntary and private sector providers
We also intend to open up the sessions to members of the public.
This project will run from May – December 2012