Healthy lives

Healthy Lives Project

Improving physical health services for people diagnosed with serious mental illnesses

This is a user-led study which the Healthy London Partnership mental health programme commissioned NSUN to undertake.

We asked:

What physical healthcare experiences do people with serious (enduring) mental illness diagnoses have?
What are their needs?
What improvements in commissioning and in services are needed?

You can download the full project description as well as the reports it produced:

Latest

How can organisations use the 4Pi Involvement Standards?

Meerat Kaur, Sandra Jayacodi, & Rachel Matthews talk us through how the 4Pi Involvement Standards for co-production were used to facilitate meaningful partnerships between service users, the public, healthcare professionals, and researchers.
African Health Policy Network and COVID-19

Maureen Ndawana, Community and Engagement Officer for the African Health Policy Network and coordinator of Ffena, tells us about how they have been able to keep their members connected with help from NSUN.
NSUN Members' Event and AGM 2020

We are delighted to invite you to our Members' Event and AGM 2020 on the 24th and 25th of November with keynote speakers, discussion sessions, and panels with guests including Rosie Tressler, Ursula Myrie, and Meg-John Barker.
SM Talking Circles and COVID-19

Jane Salazar, founder of SM Talking Circles, talks about her group for adults with selective mutism. They have been able to move online and start planning the use of non-verbal software for their group.

Peer Support: Working with the VCSE Sector

NSUN, AMHP and Mind have jointly produced a thought-piece outlining how voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) organisations can meaningfully contribute to the provision of peer support in mental health; and offer practical examples of the diverse ways in which this is already happening.
Remote and Online Peer Support Resource

Over the past months, collaborative working has shown that we have shared experiences of what works. This resource, for anyone involved in providing peer support, outlines best practice, tips, and information about remote support, including the move back to face to face.
The Value of User Led Groups (2019 campaign)

NSUN’s main campaign in 2019 is the value of user-led groups - that is demonstrating the huge value of user-led groups in our society and fighting the cause for their survival.
Members survey evaluation reports

Annual members survey analysis
Unlocking Service User Involvement Practice in Forensic Settings

NSUN commissioned WISH to conduct a review of involvement practice in forensic settings.
Values-based commissioning

NSUN seeks to improve service user involvement by supporting people with lived experience to gain proper input into the commissioning of services they use.
Service user involvement and co-production: the MARD project

Documents by the Making A Real Difference (MARD) project.
Service user involvement and co-production publications

Publications by the members of the national survivor user network (NSUN), network for mental health, on user involvement and co-production
Mental Health Act (MHA) review

The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act was really important to us and our members. As an independent, user led collective we lobbied to be a member of the Advisory Group and to make sure user led groups were recognised (as being distinct from other groups) and included in the consultation phases. We've provided a charted breakdown of the recommendations to help make sense of what the recommendations will mean for you and your peers/someone you care for.
4Pi national involvement standards

Developed by people with lived experience as part of the National Involvement Partnership (NIP) project, the 4Pi National Standards ensure effective co-production, thus improving experiences of services and support.

Jobs and involvement opportunities

We are recruiting a Policy Officer to expand our focus on rights-based mental health policy that considers the impact of poverty, precarity, housing and employment on mental health.
4Pi national involvement standards

Developed by people with lived experience as part of the National Involvement Partnership (NIP) project, the 4Pi National Standards ensure effective co-production, thus improving experiences of services and support.
Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit - Open Letters

The UK government is hosting a Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit in London on the 9th and 10th of October, 2018. The Summit aims to “build momentum on global mental health issues such as early intervention, public health, research, tackling stigma, and promoting access to evidence-based services.”. Read the Open Letters to the Organisers, Partners and Delegates of the Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit, London
BME mental health service users launch manifesto

The Kindred Minds BME mental health service user led manifesto is a unique resource, has been written by BME mental health service users and has a comprehensive vision for the policy and practice changes needed to improve the mental well-being of BME mental health service users.
History

About the National Survivor User Network (NSUN) and the wider service user survivor movement. What we have achieved.
Join as a member

We are a user-led network of over 5000 individual and group members. Join us to find out what's happening across England to improve the experiences of people who need services and support when in distress. We aim to connect, inform and influence.
Survivor Researcher Network launch manifesto

Written by the Survivor Researcher Working Group, the SRN manifesto sets out the background and context to survivor and service user research and SRN's aims and values as a network
Alternatives to detention/sectioning under the Mental Health Act 1983. Can you help with suggestions?

As part of her work for the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, Dorothy Gould is trying to collect as many examples as possible of alternatives to detention/sectioning.
Our vision

Our vision is for the lives of people who experience mental distress, discrimination and disadvantage to be better
The Principles of Peer Support Charter

A collaboration between statutory and voluntary sector organisations has facilitated the production of a peer led and produced Principles of Peer Support Charter.