We launched Living Well: Emotional Support Matters, together with Health and Social Care ALLIANCE Scotland, in 2021 to enable charities working with people with long-term health conditions to grow their ability to deliver mental wellbeing support for their service users, as well as their staff and volunteers, through the facilitation of training and a peer learning network.
Part of our Covid Response Programme, the Living Well: Emotional Support Matters project supported eight charities (delivery partners) to embed tailored, practical mental health support.
The eight charities were:
- Waverley Care
- Sensory Impaired Support Group
- Versus Arthritis
- MS Argyll
- Diabetes Scotland
- Braveheart
- Clan Cancer
- Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
Evaluation of the programme shows that partnership working, upskilling staff, and adapting organisational cultures are key to delivering sustainable mental health improvements for people living with long term health conditions. Not only do people benefit with improved wellbeing and quality of life, but this way of working also reaps wider significant economic benefits.
Why do people living with long-term physical health conditions need mental health support?
People living with long-term health conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, and sensory impairment, are more likely to experience mental health problems, including anxiety, stress, and depression. The Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated this and, with reduced access to health and social care services and networks throughout lockdowns, many were left to deal with emotional distress alone.
In August 2020, 49% of the general population felt anxious or worried due to COVID-19, compared to 63% of people living with a long-term physical health condition.
What is the Living Well: Emotional Support Matters project?
The voluntary sector has great relationships with our communities with detailed knowledge of the needs and assets of the local community. This sector was well placed to offer support to the people who need it most following the pandemic.
Building learning into service provision
Living Well partners built learning acquired through training and peer networking into their service provision, and strived to increase impact by cascading training through their organisations:
We have found that we have been able to roll out the training and webinars provided to us via MHF and Alliance to staff and this has proven effective.
As part of our new structure, we are planning to roll out a more self-management focused model which will incorporate support for mental wellbeing
"There’s been lots of learning and all of it has impacted positively on the organization. The one that really stands out is the PhotoVoice training. That one session has really changed the way we work, particularly with one of our groups. The change that we're seeing in those individuals is really quite incredible. They're very proud of themselves. They're confident, they're now thinking in a different way. Their work has been exhibited locally in different groups, and now nationally.
So that was a huge confidence boost for the group who were in a group who had long-term conditions, but it was really their mental wellbeing that we were supporting. People with anxiety and depression, no confidence, low self-esteem. So to see their work on show was great for them. Just to have that different way of looking at things. They now go out with the camera in their pockets and just record their day, which is great."
- MS Argyll
What did we achieve?
In addition to supporting people, analysis of the project by BIGGAR Economics also found that it generated significant economic benefits, with a funding-to-impact ratio of £1:£8.60, amounting to £3.7 million in health and wellbeing impacts.
Read more about the economic impact of Living Well: Emotional Support Matters
Recommendations for policy makers
The evaluation confirms that building organisational capacity and embedding mental health practices leads to improved wellbeing for people with LTCs, staff, and volunteers alike. Therefore, Living Well makes the following recommendations:
- Allocate long term, sustainable funding for activity that promotes and supports the mental health and wellbeing of people living with LTCs and addresses the mental health inequalities they experience
- Take a cross-policy approach to ensure mental health and wellbeing is embedded across policies, addressing the wide-ranging physical, social, mental, economic, and environmental factors that impact people living with long term conditions
- Embed mental health and wellbeing across all aspects of the work of organisations supporting people living with LTCs, including policies, processes and culture
- Recognise the third sector as a valued and equal partner in the support and promotion of the mental health and wellbeing of people living with long term conditions.
Read the full evaluation of Living Well: Emotional Support Matters
Download our briefing for Scottish policymakers
For more information, please contact Tim Street (Project Manager) tstreet@mentalhealth.org.uk
Evaluating different training approaches
As part of the Living Well project, a rapid review of evidence was commissioned to investigate whether particular types of training are more successful in embedding learning and changing behaviour in third sector organisations focused on mental health and wellbeing work.
Conclusions from this study suggested that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will work, but that from all the positive examples of how to create sustainable activities it was clear that purpose was the catalyst to meaningful learning and actions.
By consistently focusing all training and learning events on the outcome of improving the mental health and wellbeing of stakeholders the project aimed to embed sustainable enhancements of operational activity and service delivery.
The training and the resources we've accessed helped us value the use of lived experience to promote change and challenge stigma around mental health and wellbeing.
Specific training that we asked for like starting mental health conversations was very, very helpful. And cascading this training will be very important for us.
Promoting partnership working
In February 2024 the partner organisations participated in our conference “Partnering for prevention: learning from the Covid Response Programme”. This was an opportunity to reflect on the delivery of the project in the context of the wider UK programme and share ideas across the 57 organisations represented on the day. Two organisations were able to present on their experience of being involved in the project, highlighting how a focus on mental health and wellbeing had had a positive impact on their services.
One of our delivery partners highlighted the importance of considering the implications of physical health conditions when aiming to provide a positive experience:
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed yesterday’s conference. Without exception I found all of the speakers powerful and informative. I certainly got lots of ideas. My only regret is that due to our staffing shortage I was unable to offer to speak or to do a poster. On a personal level it was great that most speakers used the microphone provided, my hearing is poor and I struggle sometimes to pick everything up, but not yesterday. This added to my overall positive experience.
‘Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic’ Study
Read about the Mental Health Foundation's COVID-19 research study in Scotland
Find out more
Find out more about our Covid Response Programme
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on the mental health of people all over the country, but people who already experience inequality have been far more adversely affected. We have invested in our Covid Response Programme to deliver targeted support for lone parents, refugees, people from Black and minority ethnic communities, and people living with long-term health conditions.