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Partnership boosts national project on spirituality and mental health

 

News Release, 31 July 2003

 The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) and the Mental Health Foundation will launch a two-year partnership in November 2003 to bring together and develop current thinking and practice in the area of spirituality and mental health.

 

Coming on the back of increasing evidence that spirituality can help people prevent and recover from mental ill health, the Mental Health Foundation and NIMHE will jointly fund a full-time, two-year Project Co-ordinator - Vicky Nicholls, who has been leading the Foundation's 'Strategies for Living' Programme.

 

Professor Antony Sheehan, Chief Executive of the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) and Group Head of Mental Health in the Department of Health, said: "Spirituality is increasingly being identified by people with mental health needs as a vital part of their mental well-being and recovery from ill-health; and is coming to greater prominence in our multi-cultural society. We need to respond positively to this issue".

 

Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, speaking of this partnership, said: "NIMHE and the Mental Health Foundation will form an effective partnership to better understand and promote the role of spirituality in good mental health. The appointment of Vicky Nicholls, with her specialist expertise and national profile, as Project Co-ordinator with this project will enable great steps to be taken in a relatively short time".

 

Vicky Nicholls, who led the 'Somerset Spirituality Project' and has been compiling the results of Stage 2 of the Foundation's 'Strategies for Living' Programme, will join Peter Gilbert from NIMHE, who is the National Institute's Project Lead on the subject.

 

Vicky Nicholls said: "The search for meaning and the deeply personal nature of spiritual beliefs and experiences are at the very heart of many people's journeys - including at times of distress and crisis. I feel honoured to be offered this opportunity to contribute to increasing understanding and support in this important area."

 

The work carried out so far has revealed:

 

  • A great desire on the point of service users to focus on this subject as part of the ' Strategies for Living ' programme at the Mental Health Foundation.

  • A large number of local, regional and national groups wishing to consider the issue. There is a National Forum based at Mentality, the National Mental Health Promotion charity (www.mentality.org.uk).

  • NIMHE is organising a national conference on the 13th November 2003 in partnership with Pavilion Publishing (www.pavpub.com) and Mental Health Today.

  • The partnership will be complementary to work in other mental health charities, such as the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (www.scmh.org.uk), The Centre for Mental Health Development and Mentality; and aims to stimulate further work.

  • Faith communities provide an enormous, often untapped, resource for people in mental distress, and a current project with Mentality and the Church of England's Board of Social Responsibility is working up a pilot workbook for parishes which will be mirrored, in an appropriate manner, for other faith communities in the future.

  • The 'Spirituality and Mental Health' Project has strong links with the current NIMHE programmes, such as Values, Equalities, Recovery, In-patient Care, and Workforce. It will be working especially closely with Professor Kamlesh Patel, the Strategic Director for Black and Ethnic Minorities in Mental Health, following the publication of Inside, Outside earlier this year. A partnership approach between NIMHE (www.nimhe.csip.org.uk/) and the Mental Health Foundation will encourage increased awareness and understanding of this major issue at the national, regional and local level, and will strengthen and co-ordinate the scoping, charting and development of projects, research and good practice already taking place. It will also give a policy lead in a complex field.

  • Peter Gilbert, NIMHE's Project Lead, said: "So many people are expressing a desire to meet and discuss the spiritual aspect of their lives and the part it plays in their well-being and recovery, that it will be good news to be able to respond to this through this exciting partnership. We will also be able to collate examples of good practice and build research capacity for the future".

 

Return to news releases 2003

 

For further information and interview requests contact please contact the press office on 020 7803 1105 / 1128 or email the press office