Globally, 970 million people live with a mental disorder. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in every eight of us faces challenges posed by mental health conditions. Sadly, while effective prevention and treatment options exist, most sufferers worldwide have no access to care and frequently experience stigma, discrimination or human rights violations.
To combat this, the theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day on the 10th of October, set by the World Federation for Mental Health, is ‘Mental health is a universal human right’. The overall objective is to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilise support for mental health.
It is an opportunity for everyone affected by or working with mental health issues to talk about their experiences and the steps that can be taken to provide good mental health care for all.
The unique value of lived experience
One of WHO’s priorities for World Mental Health Day is to include people with lived experience of mental health conditions in decision-making on mental health issues, new policies, laws and service planning. WHO recognises that treatment and provision are positively influenced and guided by the hard-won expertise of those with a direct, personal experience of living with mental health challenges.
At Open Mental Health, people with lived experience of mental illness are at the forefront of everything we do. Our Experts by Experience Leaders use their personal experience of mental health services and recovery journeys to influence decision-making and ensure the support on offer meets people’s needs.
Experts by experience take the lead at OMH
Experts by Experience Leaders (EbELs) work as equal partners in Open Mental Health. Their input has transformed our approach, helped to join up social and medical support, and improved the quality of treatment for service users, carers and families. Not only has this led to better outcomes, but it has also given EbELs valuable experience and transferrable skills.
Jo, one of the Expert by Experience Leaders, says, “It’s so great when you go to a meeting,and you tell the professionals around you what it’s been like and then a few months later, you hear that they’ve produced this new project, or this new thing and they’ve listened to you.”
Graham, another Expert by Experience Leader, reflects, “I am well aware that not many men come forward to share and thought it would give me a great chance to actually help change and shape the way mental health is looked at.
I enjoy turning my negatives into a positive, and working alongside the team at Stepladder has been fantastic. Having an ability to share my experience and know that it will be used to guide further improvements and potentially save lives is great.”
Co-producing mental health care across Somerset
EbELs meet each other regularly to share the insights their lived experience has brought them. A co-production team offers support to produce a wide range of community mental health services and review and design new models of care.
Bo, an Expert by Experience Leader, shares her thoughts of co-production, “In my opinion it’s the best way to work as instead of being in an echo chamber and only hearing your own views you are able to ‘sound board’ with other people, sometimes those with differing experiences and/or views. Therefore, providing a wider and more comprehensive result.
Co-production allowed Expert by Experience Leaders to become involved in the ethos, branding and modelling of Open Mental Health in the early days and now we are involved in the strategic planning of the alliance.
During our lives many of us, if not all of us, have often experienced stigma and discrimination. My involvement with Open Mental Health as an Expert by Experience Leader has empowered me and given me self-confidence.
We have been massively supported by the coproduction team from the beginning, I don’t think I could be doing this without them.”
Watch a video about the power of lived experience to discover more about the radical, transformative impact EBELs have on Open Mental Health’s services.
Debbie, an Expert by Experience Leader working with the Sedgemoor Locality team, also reflects, “It is so empowering and confidence building to be able to use my lived experiences to make a difference to the way the NHS and other services evolve and develop and move forward.”
Experts by experience: a journey of empowerment
Lucy Grist, Senior Co-Production Officer, started her journey with Open Mental Health as an EbELs. After volunteering as a Peer Mentor, Lucy met the co-production team at a conference and felt inspired by seeing the positive changes being made. Lucy says, “I really wanted to use my lived experience to contribute toward something good.”
Lucy reflects that she felt like she’d “never had a voice, or thought I was someone worth listening to—this experience has shown me that I can be heard, that my history wasn’t all for nothing and that something beautiful can grow from my past.”
Witnessing the incredible impact participating in Severe Mental Illness Engagement Training had on those who undertook the sessions confirmed Lucy’s positive impression. “It’s great to see that people want to change the way they currently work with those who have severe mental illness, address their own biases, and gain as much insight from those with lived experience as possible. I can’t wait to see Open Mental Health expand as an alliance. There’s so much passion within the sector, and I can really see how keen we are to work together, grow together, and evolve together.”
If you feel inspired to bring the power of your lived experience to Open Mental Health, find out how to become an Expert by Experience Leader here. Together, we can make World Mental Health Day a pivotal moment in improving the quality of care for everyone.