As we welcome in the New Year at Northern Healthcare our Quality and Governance Team is launching an awareness roadshow! They will focus on a different skill or topic each month and share their expertise and resources with each of our supported living services. The first month, January, will focus on physical health.
Our team members have already hit the road to provide health monitoring training. They will also highlight the importance of staying active and the positive impact this can have on our mental health.
Patrice Mallon (Quality Improvement Facilitator) and Lauren Anderton (Quality and Governance Administrator) started their journey across Northern Healthcare at the beginning of the month with Grainger House, our supported living service in Cradley Heath, and plan to end with Moss Lodge, our supported living service in Rochdale, once open.
At each visit, they will conduct training with all team members which includes monitoring blood pressure, oxygen levels and pulse/heart rate, respiration, temperature, and blood glucose. They will also focus on handwashing practices and naloxone awareness.
Our physical and mental health sit hand in hand. Issues with our mental health can increase the risk of developing physical health issues, and vice versa.
Our team understand the importance of the effect that a person’s physical health can have on their mental health. We provide training to staff specifically focused on mental health awareness, and our physical health awareness month aims to sit alongside this to create a well-rounded understanding of both.
The World Health Organisation states: “Mental health is not just the absence of mental disorder. It is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
The Mental Health Foundation found that “one in three people with long-term physical health conditions suffer from mental health problems, most often depression or anxiety.”
Depression can be been linked to a number of physical chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, asthma cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, schizophrenia has also been linked to some respiratory diseases and can lead to a higher risk of heart disease.
Long-term and chronic physical illness, especially, can cause a lot of stress, worry and anxiety for those suffering. This can increase when attending appointments or awaiting test results.
Those suffering from mental health issues also often struggle with sleep. This can lead to conditions such as insomnia (problems falling and staying asleep) and sleep apnea (issues with breathing during sleep).
Thankfully, there are some ways to improve your general wellbeing, meaning your physical and mental health.
The training of our staff across Physical Health Awareness Month will equip our team with the knowledge to be able to effectively provide physical observations. In turn, they will be able to pick up on any physical health issues or concerns in a timely matter.
Patrice Mallon, our Quality and Improvement Facilitator, shares the success of the roadshow so far – ‘’I have really enjoyed visiting each service and supporting our teams around understanding physical health and providing the best support we can to our residents. All of our staff are doing an amazing job to support our residents so being able to witness this on-site and support them with additional training is always a pleasure.’’
As discussed, physical and mental health are closely intertwined. Despite receiving detailed continuous training on mental health, the physical health roadshow will further equip Northern Healthcare staff with new and varied techniques to support our residents further with their physical health needs.
Joanne Cooke, Support Worker at Mary Seacole House, provides feedback on her experience – ‘’Really interesting and beneficial to the job. It’s good to have refresher courses. It was really relaxed and enjoyable. It was explained simply and easily understood.’’
Once our team have finished at the end of January, they plan to focus on ‘Care and Support Planning.’
They will again, be planning training sessions and sending out information regarding our four core care and support plan approach.
Thank you for reading and we hope you found the above article useful.
You can find a plethora of resources on the Mind website – this includes an activity toolkit, reports and tips.
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