Islanders asked to help develop adult mental health services

10 October 2022

​Following a successful initial engagement event earlier in the year, Islanders who have experience of using Jersey’s adult mental health services are being encouraged to help shape and develop them. 

The Adult Mental Health Service is looking to reinvigorate an ‘Equals by Experience’ group, where people who use mental health services and their carers can give regular feedback on what is currently available, and contribute to and help design new services going forward. This builds on other recent work that has been going on in mental health services such as a redesign of community services and the development of peer support roles (employing people with experience of using services) within teams. 

Islanders who currently use mental health services and their carers can find out more about how to join the Expert by Experience group by attending a meeting on: 

• Tuesday 18 October at 6.30pm at St Paul’s Centre
• Tuesday 1 November at 6.30pm at St Paul’s Centre 

The appeal for members to join the group comes on World Mental Health Day, which falls today [Monday 10 October]. This year’s theme is ‘Make mental health and wellbeing a global priority’. 

The service is working jointly with local charity Focus on Mental Illness to co-produce the relaunch of the Equals by Experience group. 

Andy Weir, Director of Mental Health and Adult Social Care, at Health and Community Services, said: “We really want to know how we can continue to make our services better and to do this, we need to hear the experience of people who use our services, about what works and what doesn’t. We also need their valuable contribution to the design and delivery of services moving forward.

“Sometimes people using our services don’t feel that their voice won’t be listened to or that they have nothing to contribute. Neither of these are true. We want to involve as many people as possible in the changes we make to our mental health services. It’s only by working together that we can create the exceptional services that Islanders deserve.”