Mental Health Strategy 2012-2015: easy read

Ways of Working - Main points

The Mental Health Strategy says that health care must be:

Person centred

There must be a partnership between patients, their families and those who are providing healthcare. There must be clear communication and shared decision making.

Safe

People must not be harmed by the healthcare they are given, and healthcare must always be given in places that are safe and clean.

Effective

The best treatments must be given at the right times to everyone who needs them.

The consultation on the mental health strategy raised these main points.

1. Working more effectively with families and carers

Families and carers play a very important part in supporting people with mental illness, but they often feel left out because of the way services work.

We will make families and carers more involved in making decisions and delivering services. We will talk to organisations that represent service users, to find the best way to do this.

2. Peer Support Workers

People who have experienced mental illness themselves are often the best people to help others with mental health issues. We are looking to learn from Peer Support to help others.

3. Self management and self support

It is better for people to help in managing their own illness, and this is just as important for mental illnesses. We will continue to offer people a self-help service, especially for common mental health problems like stress.

4. Put a stop to discrimination

'see me' is Scotland's national campaign to end the stigma and discrimination of mental ill-health. The work that has been done as part of this campaign has been very successful, and has been copied in other parts of the world.

We will work with the managers of the "see me" campaign and the Scottish Association for Mental Health, to take this work forward.

5. Focus on the rights of people with mental illness

The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 sets out the rights of people with mental illness when they are receiving healthcare.

We will work with the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Mental Welfare Commission to make sure that people's rights are an important part of mental healthcare in Scotland.

6. Look at the whole person

When we think about the help we give patients, we need to think about more than just clinical help, we need to remember that their social and personal wellbeing are important too.

7. Use new technology

Lots of people now use the internet or other new technologies to find help when they are in distress.

We will continue to think of ways to use new technologies to help improve people's mental health.