Building Partnerships
Take time to think about how your team or group can value lived experience of mental ill-health as well as reflecting the diversity of your community and involving a wide range of people in anti stigma action.
Developing a team of people who can work with you provides opportunities to share experience and potential. Building local partnerships could start with people who work in mental health or have experienced mental ill-health, either directly or as a carer or friend. This can provide the platform for involving others with an interest such as local employers, or schools. Building a local partnership will normally start with people who already have an interest in mental health, such as people who use or work in mental health services. This then provides the platform for involving others who may not see anti-stigma work as their business, such as employers and schools.
People with lived-experience of mental ill-health
Involving people who have experienced a mental health problem and their friends and family in a meaningful way, is an essential part of a local partnership. The partnership must be based on, and driven by, the principles of valuing lived experience:
- People who use mental health services. Local service user and carer involvement groups and organisations can play an important part in supporting people to participate.
Carers, family and friends
Representing Your Whole Community
It's important to remember that your local community includes people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences of mental ill-health stigma and discrimination. Take time at the very beginning to consider how you can reflect and value the diversity of experiences and attitudes within your local area. Contact local equalities groups to find out how they can help you in your work.
Other Key Partners
- Staff involved in planning or delivering mental health services such as NHS and Local Authority.
- Staff from voluntary organisations.
- Staff who are involved in health improvement and health promotion.
- People who work in other settings such as schools and work places.
- People who work with groups who you may want to influence such as those working with young people, employers and mainstream services such as the health service or local authority.
- People from community groups.