JULIE MARKER: There is hope for future as local and national strategies align on mental health
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Scotland’s new Suicide Prevention Strategy 2022-2032 sets out the vision for suicide prevention over the next 10 years.
For every person who commits suicide it is estimated that 135 people will be affected, and therefore the strategy is for people everywhere.
Following an extensive engagement process, the Scottish Government is taking a multi-faceted approach, placing government and society at the helm to tackle the social determinants that have the greatest link to suicide risk – poverty and isolation.
It is interesting, but not surprising, to see the similarity with the themes in the Caithness Cares Plan.
The plan emerged when the community came together in 2020 to talk about the issues relating to mental health that Caithness was facing. For a period of time, Caithness was experiencing more deaths to suicide than due to coronavirus.
Charity leaders, campaigners, people with lived experience and public sector workers, determined that we needed to work together to lay every possible option on the table.
Following that initial meeting, Caithness became the pilot area for a Pathfinder programme. Over the course of six months of community engagement, an action plan was created. The initiative was given the name Caithness Cares.
Fast forward two years, some things haven’t changed – the need for timely emotional support, activities to boost well-being, outreach work and crisis support is still there. We saw that clearly from the results of Highland Council’s ‘Have your say’ survey. Once again, the community used their voice to send a message to funders: "We want help with the cost of living crisis and support for mental health."
In 2024, the Caithness Cares plan reaches its conclusion. By that date we expect to see a number of new and expanding initiatives to be firmly embedded into our community that will act to provide an array of preventative measures and a safety net for when people need one.
Both the Caithness Cares Plan and the Suicide Prevention Strategy endorse the ideas of helping people, especially through poverty, trauma and social isolation – and ensuring that support is compassionate and trauma-informed.
We must work hard to reduce the stigma of asking for help and continue to engage with people with lived and living experience.
One of the priorities for Caithness Cares is to find ways for people to access help for their mental health, including 24/7 support. We are confident that with government and community support, this will be realised in Caithness.
To sum up, by 2024 Caithness Cares aims to make sure that "the recovery community" will be better connected to offer and deliver "informal" support to individuals who are vulnerable due to alcohol and narcotic use.
We will see the delivery of Centred’s Recovery College – a trained peer-to-peer supported initiative to help people learn new skills in a supportive environment. Planet Youth will have rolled out and established the Icelandic model to improve wellbeing and see reduced risky behaviours.
The newly formed "employability group" plans to improve working in a targeted and joined up way to improve outcomes for young people. Increasing opportunities for mentoring, work experience, skills development and confidence building at key touch-points.
Our young people will have had ongoing opportunities to shape the activities and safe spaces available to them, through Highlife Highland, Planet Youth and other groups around the county.
We will see an increased number and range of activities for young people, including at least two new initiatives to help young people to use outdoor spaces for growing food. The consultation period showed that not all young people like sports, so they said they wanted different types of activities.
We are aiming for improved access to services for young people needing recovery support – with partners working together, we are now in the best possible position to address this issue.
We will see the delivery of a new SQA Well-being award and increased awareness of the Substance Awareness Toolkit, and finally a roll out and raised awareness of the Distress Brief Intervention.
We hear all too often that people are sick of participating in surveys and nothing happening. Sometimes it can be exhausting to think we are beating the same drum over and over – those actively engaged in campaigning know it all too well.
These are really challenging times but we can be hopeful, people are giving their time freely to fundraising and volunteering. Groups are mobilising and there are signs that funders are listening and changing.
If you are struggling with your mental health, there is help and support – take a look at the HEREforcaithnes.org.uk website and social media.
- Julie Marker is HERE For Caithness project lead and chair of Caithness Cares, part of Caithness Voluntary Group.
