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

User-led groups continue to close

User-led organisations across the country are continuing to close, with the sector even facing a “real threat of extinction”, leading networks have warned this week.
Mad? I'm furious!

'After 23 years we are apparently no longer valued by decision-makers or funders (...) at the time when we are most needed, nobody will actually fight for us', says Sarah, as the user-led organisation she is part of faces shut down in Liverpool. Published here as part of NSUN's campaign The Value of User Led Groups, this blog is a personal view on the threat of extinction to the Liverpool Mental Health Consortium.
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.
War and propaganda - mental health services

'There is a file on my computer recording my engagement in twenty years of mental health activism. This file was initially entitled Mental Health. But I have been driven to rename it. It is now entitled The War. I do not use the term lightly'

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.
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence (APPG for PDD) is a cross-party parliamentary group dedicated to persuading government, government departments and relevant public and medical bodies to reduce the individual and social harms associated with the injudicious and over use of prescribed psychoactive medications.
Members survey evaluation reports

Annual members survey analysis
AGM reports

Annual General Meetings and member's events are held once a year.
Newsletter 'Network'

'Network' is published on paper and pdf
Unlocking Service User Involvement Practice in Forensic Settings

NSUN commissioned WISH to conduct a review of involvement practice in forensic settings.
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.
CQC Mental Health Act annual report advisory group

CQC are producing a Mental Health Act Annual Report and a 5 year plan & are taking a more inclusive approach. The purpose of the group is to provide expertise & experience to inform the approach & scope of the report, advise on themes & presentation & dissemination of the final report.
CPA and Recovery

This study was set up by the Mental Health Foundation, in partnership with NSUN, and was conducted by Dorothy Gould, the project lead, and Sarah Yiannoullou, NSUN’s Managing Director. The study explored how effective service users find the Care Programme Approach in promoting recovery as they understand it.
Involvement Workers

The service user involvement workers peer support and development group was established September 2009. This was in response to requests from members to provide support to people who are in a professional role as a direct result of their own personal mental health experiences.

Jobs and involvement opportunities

Jobs and other involvement opportunities that call upon your lived experience as a mental health survivor / service user / carer.
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 really 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 4500 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.