Agenda item

Report of Consultant in Public Health, J Fowles.

The Board received a report and presentation of the Consultant in Public Health, J Fowles, regarding Coventry and Warwickshire Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health.

Coventry and Warwickshire Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health was a national approach to bring organisations together to promote mental health and wellbeing and prevent mental illness.

Taking a prevention-focused approach to improving the public’s mental health had been shown to make a valuable contribution to achieving a fairer and more equitable society.

The concordat promoted evidence-based planning and commissioning to increase the impact on reducing health inequalities.  The sustainability and cost-effectiveness of this approach was enhanced by the inclusion of action which impacted on the wider determinants of mental health and wellbeing.

It represented a public mental health informed approach to prevention, promoting relevant NICE guidance and existing evidence-based interventions and delivery approaches.

In November 2023, Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System (ICS), signed up to this approach locally, meaning a wide range of organisations had come together to:

• Support good mental health and wellbeing for everyone.
• Help prevent mental health problems before they happen.
• Improve the lives of people living with or recovering from mental health issues.
• Tackle inequalities in mental health across different communities.

The Prevention Concordat shone a light on mental health inequalities and supported us as a health and care system to identify areas in which action could be taken to reduce the risk factors and strengthen the protective factors.

The concordat was not reflective of all work related to Mental Health and Wellbeing across Coventry and Warwickshire but highlighted key areas of work that were positively impacting specific areas of focus.

The Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health provided basic principles in 5 key areas to embed good mental health into organisations:

• Effective use of data and intelligence
• Partnership and alignment
• Translate need into deliverable commitments and tackle inequalities
• Defining success outcomes
• Leadership and accountability

A steering group, which met quarterly to discuss progress and the director of the Concordat’s key areas of focus were:

• Embedding mental health and wellbeing into policies and processes.
• Children and Young People’s mental health and wellbeing.
• Reducing mental health inequalities.
• Physical activity and mental health.

The key areas for development in 2025 included working with housing associations to contribute to conditions for better mental health and wellbeing, and developing mental health and wellbeing support for young, black men.  The Young Black Men’s project would be showcased at the Health and Wellbeing Board by a colleague from Mind.  Work was also ongoing with lifestyles interventions for people with mental health conditions, such as better referral pathways to offer more support with reducing or stopping smoking.

The Board also received a presentation and verbal update from the Head of Operation, Z Hutchinson, Mind regarding the Young Black Men’s Project.

Members of the Board, having considered the content of the report and asked questions and received information from officers on the following matters:

• The workforce supporting the Young Black Men’s Project were representative to ensure authenticity and trust. 
• Officers engaged with young black men via community venues and via school referrals. 
• Sometimes when support workers met the young black men, they were met with resistance.  This has been overcome by having face to face conversations with no commitment.  The support workers were very skilled at linking culturally.  It was rare that the young men would not engage however, if they were not ready, they were signposted to the right support.
• Services such as the peer mental support service, key worker support service and community autism support service were available in Coventry.  Mind ensured their focus was through these services, communication, planning and collaboration, working through the challenges using data.

The Board requested:

• Pathways to employment to be included in the slides.
• Collaboration through the HDRC on motivational interview training.

RESOLVED that the Health and Wellbeing Board:

1)  Note the content of the Coventry and Warwickshire Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health.

2)  Support the key areas of development for 2025 as outlined in the report.