This is an online synopsis of the topic which shows the executive summary and key contacts sections. To view the full document, please download it.
| Topic title | Mental Health (2024) |
|---|---|
| Topic owner | Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Adult Mental Health JSNA Steering Group |
| Topic author(s) | Lucy Jones, Dave McDonald, Zara Choudhery, David Gilding, Saeed Ahmad |
| Topic quality reviewed | November 2024 |
| Topic endorsed by | Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Adult Mental Health JSNA Steering Group |
| Topic approved by | Health and Wellbeing Board, December 2024 |
| Linked JSNA topics |
Scope
This Mental Health JSNA Profile is focused on people aged 16 and older living in Nottingham or Nottinghamshire experiencing:
This JSNA Profile also explores how to help people to stay mentally well in their communities. This can include promoting mental wellbeing and mental health, preventing future mental health problems, and supporting recovery. This is sometimes referred to as a public mental health approach.
Although the focus of this JSNA Profile is not on secondary mental health care or mental health crisis services, people experiencing CMDs or low mental wellbeing may access these types of services. The Profile therefore includes some information about these services, including data on service access.
Serious Mental Illness (SMI), which includes diagnoses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other psychotic illnesses that cause severe functional impairment, is not in scope of this JSNA.
Local strategic context
The ambition for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire residents to have good mental health features across the local strategic context. Prevention is a common theme across local strategies, whether in the context of reducing mental or physical ill health. The locally endorsed Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Mental Health Pathway: Strategic Plan 2024/25-2026/2027 in particular is a driver for delivering an integrated mental health pathway that supports people to live well in their local community. For more details of the local strategic context including links to relevant local strategies and plans, click here. Common local strategic themes include:
Why is this topic important?
Living well and thriving
Mental health and mental wellbeing are important resources for our health, wellbeing, and participation in society. Good mental health and mental wellbeing support physical health and social relationships, enable people to manage illness and adversity, make it easier to adopt a healthy lifestyle, and support people to work, study and contribute to their communities.
Societal costs
Mental illness is an important societal problem, responsible for the largest burden of disease in England (23% of the total burden, compared to 16% for cancer and 16% for heart disease).
An estimated one in four people has a mental health problem at any one time. This costs the English economy around £105b every year and presents a large and increasingly common barrier to work. Nearly 5% of people of working age have a work-limiting mental health problem, with disproportionate impact among young people, women and people with lower education levels.
Planning for the future
It is important to better understand this topic because mental health need has increased in recent years. Nationally, the proportion of people who do not have access to the building blocks of mental wellbeing and mental health, such as financial wellbeing, continues to increase. Similarly, the proportion of people experiencing mental ill health continues to grow - and at a faster rate than increases in physical ill health. For example, prevalence of depression increased from 5.8% in 2012 to 13.2% in 2022. In 2023, 54% of adults in Britain identified mental health as the biggest health problem facing people today.
Health inequalities
The burden of mental ill health is not shared equally. Some groups of people - including people with low incomes, disabled people, and people from some minority ethnic groups - are at higher risk of experiencing mental health problems. In addition, mental health problems are both a cause and consequence of disadvantage. Disadvantage, discrimination, and exclusion increase the risk of experiencing mental health problems and low mental wellbeing. Conversely, mental health problems and low mental wellbeing increase the risk of experiencing disadvantage.
Alongside this inequality in need, access to support is unequal. People from disadvantaged groups are more likely than others to experience barriers to access to mental health support and services, and, when they access services, to have poorer experiences and outcomes.
Opportunities and recommendations for improvement and future development
|
Theme |
Findings |
Recommendations |
|
Reach and equity of access to support
|
People do not always know how and where to access mental health support, and some people report they cannot find a service to meet their needs. Access to support is inequitable, and some groups have poorer experiences of, and outcomes from, mental health services. People with additional needs as well as mental health needs report finding services hard to access. Some people find they have to wait for the right support, and this can be a barrier to engaging with services. Some groups with greater need for mental health support are at-risk of their needs becoming more acute or not being met because they experience barriers to accessing early support.
|
All partners should promote the NottAlone website as the main source of mental health information, advice, and signposting. The NottAlone mobilisation group and mental health strategic communication group should identify how to remove barriers to this information (such as digital exclusion, cultural differences and communication and language barriers), and co-produce alternative messages and materials for identified demographic groups who need them. Commissioners and providers of mental health services should identify how they can use the insight from this JSNA Profile to increase access for underrepresented groups. This may include:
|
|
Building blocks of health |
Primary care is a key point of first contact for people concerned about their own or a loved one’s mental health. Local people value community assets (such as parks and community groups and spaces) to help them stay mentally well, especially when assets and services are accessible, inclusive and integrated at the same location. People find that gaps and problems with funding, resources and accessibility limit the availability and impact of community assets. People who lack access to the building blocks of health – such as decent housing and financial wellbeing - are at higher risk of experiencing common mental health disorders and low mental wellbeing. People who experience CMDs and low mental wellbeing are more likely need support to access good quality housing, jobs, education and safe spaces to exercise and socialise. |
The Integrated Care Board should ensure staff across primary care have the information and resources they need to inform and support people making first contact for mental health support, and the resources to help people access community resources and practical support for mental wellbeing. All partner organisations should identify how they can expand how they promote ways to stay mentally well, recognising the role of communities and community assets. This may include mental health services building links or co-locating with community groups or organisations, or supporting people to access community assets in their communities before, during and after contact with services, such as Green Social Prescribing services. Public health teams should consider how they provide information and support for partners to help them do this. All health and care organisations should increase routine enquiries to identify mental health risks and needs. This includes physical health care and money help services enquiring about mental health, and mental health care services enquiring about risk and protective factors, such as financial vulnerability, drug and alcohol use, gambling related harm, and domestic abuse or violence. All health and care organisations should ensure that the workforce have information about where to signpost and refer on to. There should be strong partnership working between professionals in mental health and housing to support people with poor mental health or poor mental wellbeing to have and maintain stable, affordable and decent housing. Identifying this as a strategic priority in key forums such as the Nottinghamshire Housing Group will enable a shared focus on mental health and housing. |
|
Supporting the workforce
|
The proportion of people experiencing common mental health disorders and low mental wellbeing has increased in recent years. Many people who need mental health services have additional needs that impact on their ability to access and benefit from services. People value services which take account of their individual and cultural needs. Many people experiencing common mental health disorders and low mental wellbeing access other types of services and groups in the community to seek help for their mental health and wellbeing, including many people who are not currently accessing mental health support. |
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Adult and Children’s Mental Health Partnership Board should receive regular information about mental health workforce training in equality and diversity; cultural competence; trauma-informed care; neurodiversity awareness; drug and alcohol use; and person-centred care. Partner organisations should identify how to increase access to mental health awareness training for the whole health and care workforce, including physical health care and primary care staff and the community and voluntary sector. Health and care organisations should review their policies and offers for staff mental wellbeing to identify any improvements or successes they could share with partners. |
|
Understanding and insight |
Local insight, data and wider evidence show the need to improve how the mental health needs of some groups of people are met. This includes people from minority ethnic groups, people who are lesbian, gay and bisexual, disabled people, and people who have a long-term condition. Among people experiencing common mental health disorders, local data shows different patterns of service use for different demographic groups, such as men and women and people in different age groups. |
The Integrated Care Board should support NHS Talking Therapies to continue to apply and to share learning from their current work to increase access for under-served groups. Mental health services should improve data recording to increase understanding of service user needs, and the needs of those who require services and do not access them. This may include recording socio-demographic and behaviour data, such as ethnicity, deprivation, employment status, disability status, sexuality, drug and alcohol use, and homelessness. Services should ensure their data contributes to the SAIU mental health system dashboard to improve understanding of local need. This data should be used to improve access and adapt delivery to better meet service user need. |
|
Strategic approach |
People seek and benefit from a wider range of community assets and services to support their mental health and wellbeing. Stigma is a barrier to accessing mental health support for some people. Citizens and stakeholders report they would like more and clearer information about community assets and mental health services, greater integration of and pathways between different kinds of services, and more community assets which support mental wellbeing and prevent mental health problems. |
Health and care partner organisations should consider how they can adopt a Mental Health in All Policies approach to prevent mental health problems, promote mental health equity and create environments that support good mental health. Places, districts, and boroughs should identify or strengthen their place-based collective approaches to promoting mental health and preventing mental health problems. This may be achieved through a place-based adoption of the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health. |
This is an online synopsis of the topic which shows the executive summary and key contacts sections. To view the full document, please download it.