Mental wellbeing
Key priorityOur ambition
Everyone in Kirklees achieves good mental wellbeing and has a good quality of life with purpose and fulfilment throughout their lives.
Why this is important
There is no health without mental health. We have outlined 6 areas for why this is so important.
Engagement:
People with good mental wellbeing are more likely to feel able to engage and contribute to their communities and are more likely to be in work.
Community:
There is a reciprocal relationship between being lonely and the development of mental health problems.
Life challenges:
If more people in Kirklees are equipped to cope with the challenges of life, less people reach crisis point.
Health:
The CLIK (Currently Living in Kirklees) 2021 survey showed that anxiety and depression are the two most common long term health conditions. People with serious mental illness, die on average, 15 years earlier than those without serious mental illness.
Children:
Children from the poorest households are more likely to have serious mental health difficulties than those from the wealthier households. Around 1 in 8 children in Kirklees have some level of special educational need or disability (SEND).
Finances:
Personal financial pressures increase stress and persistent stress can trigger or worsen mental wellbeing. Financial instability and poverty can increase suicide risk.
We will:
- Work together to promote the protective factors for mental health for all ages: connection to others, learning, being in work, good housing, physical activity, giving back and purpose.
- Work together to raise awareness about mental wellbeing, create a positive culture, reduce stigma, and promote prevention, early intervention and recovery throughout all we do across Kirklees.
- Provide opportunities to increase protective factors for children's mental wellbeing; being active, eating well, connecting with peers and friends, learning a new hobby.
- Continue to develop partnership-based approaches to supporting children and adults who have special educational needs and disabilities to lead happy and fulfilled lives.
- Raise awareness of safe and anonymous spaces in Kirklees where young people can seek early help with their mental wellbeing.
- Understand your responsibility around suicide prevention; undertake training to help reduce stigma and know what you can do to help.
- Recognise people as experts in their own mental wellbeing, work in partnership with them and support them to self-care.
- Work together so mental ill-health and physical ill-health are viewed equally.
- Have good data, and use it and personal stories to understand people of all ages who live, work or study in Kirklees to inform evidence-based approaches to tackling mental wellbeing.
- Work together so support and services provided are easily accessible to meet the needs of those that require them the most and, where possible, are available in local communities.
- Lead by example as good employers ensuring mental wellbeing is embedded within all organisational policies e.g. basic mental health training for staff and managers.
You should:
- Know how to keep yourself mentally well
- Be a champion for mental wellbeing in your workplace, community, or place of study
- Be resourceful; equip yourself with knowledge about what local services are available in Kirklees to help support your mental wellbeing, including crisis care
- Undertake training around mental health to be able to recognise poor mental health in yourself and others
- Access green spaces to improve wellbeing and contribute toward tackling climate emergency
- If you are an employer; know how to look after staff wellbeing, invest in training your staff and know what exists locally to help support your staff
- I would like support to help me take control of my own mental health.
- I would like mental health care and support to be available within my local community.
- I would like mental health resources, including support and services, to be more focused on prevention.
- I would like to be knowledgeable about mental health conditions, including loneliness and healthy relationships, especially if they are affecting my family and friends so I can help them get care and support
- I would like easy access to stigma free mental health support within my school.
- % of people feeling happy
- % of people feeling that life is worthwhile
- % of people feeling lonely (shared outcome headline indicator)
- Self-reported mental health
- Self-harm rate
- Suicide rate
- Adults emotional wellbeing (shared outcome headline indicator)
- Emotional wellbeing of 13/14 year olds (shared outcome headline indicator)
Qualitative
- News stories
- Testimonies with people with lived experience
- All-age Mental Health Strategy
- Kirklees Suicide Prevention Action Plan
- Children and Young People Plan
- SEND Strategy
- Autism Strategy
- Loneliness Strategy
- West Yorkshire ICS (Integrated Care System) strategies
