Welcome to the mental health and assets mapping blog from IRISS!
We’re interested in how we can bring together people who use services to learn from and map their experiences about what helps them keep well within a local community.
Background
Traditional approaches to improving well-being, reducing health inequalities and achieving other social goals have focused on the deficits and problems of individuals and communities.
Instead, we’re using assets mapping as we believe that using an approach that values assets identifies the skills, strengths, capacity and knowledge of individuals and the social capital of communities. This can provide a different story of place that is a positive and outcomes focused picture that values what works well and where health and well-being is thriving.
An assets approach has in common with the concept of recovery the expectation that people using services can and want to take as much control as possible over the journey towards improved mental health and well-being. Thus, the approach is about looking within and beyond mental health service provision at the whole range of opportunities that afford a way for people to manage their condition and live their life in a way that best suits them.
What will the outputs of the project be?
The outputs from the project will be a visual representation of what exists to help assist positive mental health and well-being within the area that people can add to and learn from.
We are also interested in developing an approach to person centred planning that is based on the assets approach. We believe that by focusing on the skills, talents, aptitudes and networks of individuals that they will be able to personally identify what has the potential to improve their health and wellbeing and how using some of their existing assets can assist this.
We are also documenting the asset mapping process so that others can learn from our experience. We believe there is not a one size fits all – nothing you can download or buy and then go and do asset mapping – it just doesn’t work that way, however, we have big ideas around creating a toolkit for asset mapping in the social care sector.
Who is involved in the project?
- People receiving support
- East Dunbartonshire Council – social work and health practitioners
- Voluntary and private sector providers
Really pleased to see this sort of thing being show cased and I will be passing the links on to alot of people in my own local authority area. I chair our Pan Disability Forum and sit on our VCS Assembly, and am trying to encourage a much wider consideration of good practice in enabling peopl’spersonal assets to be considered in just the way you describe, when setting out their care plan.
Just one smallpoint. Is the date of the project meant to be 2012 rather than 2011? If it has already happened it would be good to get more details.
Hello Val,
This project was undertaken in 2011 and we are about to commence the next stage of the project.
You can find the project report here: http://www.iriss.org.uk/resources/using-assets-approach-positive-mental-health-and-well-being
and, also the local asset map site here: http://content.iriss.org.uk/community-supports-kirkintilloch/
You might also be interested to find out that we have set up the Assets Knowledge Hub, which is an online platform for people interested in these types of approaches to connect, share ideas, thoughts and materials on this topic. The site can be found here:
https://knowledgehub.local.gov.uk/group/assetbasedapproachesinscotland
If you’re not already registered for the public service community of practice site you’ll need to do so before you can access this. But feel free to get in touch if you have any problems.
All best wishes,
Lisa