Mental Health Carers Education Course
On this page
- Lead Organisation
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
- Project contact
The Carers Education Course is a 6-week training course for carers of those with mental health conditions and was nominated for and won the South West Integrated Personalised Care Awards in the ‘Giving Confidence’ category.
- Partners
KS2 Bath, St Mungo’s
- Project duration
6 weekly sessions , 2-3 times a year
- Key beneficiaries
Carers of people with mental health conditions
Mental Health Carers Education Course
Why we started this initiative
There had been multiple requests for support and education on mental health and the needs of mental health carers.
The course was designed to give skills, strategies, and peer support to mitigate carer breakdown and manage mental health crisis with the person they care for. This would also include relapse planning, carer wellbeing and suicide prevention.
Our goals
The aim of the course was to create a supportive environment for people caring for those with a mental health condition using self management education. The focus of the course was to develop the skills needed to effectively manage their own health as carers and that of the people they support. This was done through six interactive sessions with each session having a different focus.
How we’re implementing it
Carers were recruited through recovery college and a carers mailing list.
The 6 sessions included understanding mental health conditions, supporting people with mental health challenges to make changes, conflict and crisis, dealing with emotional distress and a relaxation session, as well as understanding mental health medications.
The first 4 weeks were facilitated by a contracted mental health trainer supported by a peer volunteer and staff from the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health Carers Assessment Service. Guest facilitators for the remaining sessions included a local Pilates and Yoga instructor who delivered the relaxation session, a pharmacist who delivered medication sessions and a clinical psychologist whose session focused on dealing with emotional distress.
Learnings
Due to the success and demand, the course has been delivered a further three times, with feedback from the participants being taken on board, thus developing the course each time.
The improvements to the course have included the need for more content on dealing with distress, practical scenarios and a focus on different mental health conditions.
The Carers Education Course was nominated for and won the South West Integrated Personalised Care Awards in the ‘Giving Confidence’ category.
Made a great deal of sense of some of the scenarios you experience as a carer. Helped understand why the person you care for reacts the way they do and how can deal with it.
Carer
The course content was fantastic and also adapted to meet the needs of those who attended. Everyone was able to have a “voice” able to share if they wanted in a safe confidential environment. A fabulous course that needs to be run again and again for all carers.
Carer