Promoting mental health and wellbeing

Mental health is a vital part of our overall health and well-being.

The NHS recommends a stepped approach to the promotion of mental health and wellbeing.

Look after your wellbeing
Address the wider determinants of mental wellbeing
Promote mental wellbeing
Increase mental health awareness
Promote access to mental health services and crisis services

Organisations that provide advice, support and services are listed in our Self Referral Library.

Search the library for the service or support you are looking for.

Look after your wellbeing
We all have mental health and we all need to look after it. We are all human; it is okay not to be okay and it is okay for us to ask for support.

You are going through the pandemic at the same time as those you are supporting. Though everyone’s situation is different, this can be an added challenge to consider.

For many leaders at this time, it can feel hard to have permission to be human, and to having a human response. It’s okay for you not to have all the answers, no one does. As leaders your wellbeing matters too, and it’s a really important place to start.

How to look after your well-being

Take a moment, and check-in with yourself. How have you been doing? What do you need? What do you need to do more of? Less of? Who can support you?

Before you consider the wellbeing of others, consider what you need to put in place for yourself. Perhaps daily wellbeing reminders? Regular breaks? New ways to socially connect? Permission not to be available 24/7.

Key resources for your well-being

Staff Support Joined Up Care Derbyshire website. You’ll find a range of information on looking after your wellbeing and mental health on these pages. Including support around bereavement, trauma, and managing anxiety.

Mind wellness action plan and website. Mind has a great range of information and resources to support personal wellbeing at this time.
Wider determinants of mental wellbeing

Mental distress is often an understandable response to life circumstances (i.e. financial insecurity, housing problems or food poverty).

Make time for ‘Quality Conversations’.

Take time to ask open questions (What..? How..? Who…? When…?); these questions help us find out more about the situation of another person. Listen to the response carefully (without jumping to assumptions) and respond with empathy (i.e. that sounds really tough for you).

A range of factors impact on the mental health of our community members, staff and volunteers including social and economic factors. These factors make it more likely some people will experience mental distress (i.e. due to financial insecurity) and less likely some people will access support (i.e. due to a range of barriers such as lower levels of literacy).

When it’s appropriate, signpost to resources and support.

Let’s make sure we support those we’re speaking to so they get help. When people are anxious it can be harder to reach out for help. Remember that for one person a phone number or a website address may be enough to seek support, for another person there may be reasons that this still means they can’t access the support they need (they may not have the internet), or the confidence to do it by themselves.

Mental health support resources

Derbyshire County Council website or the Derby City website for community support, social care support and financial support.

Healthy, warm and well Derbyshire for a range of support services and advice to stay healthy, warm and well.

Derbyshire Winter Pressure Single Contact Point (professional referral only) or Derby City Cold Weather support (public facing support).

Visit the Quality Conversations website for a range of resources, tools, and free training offers to support your skills in having conversations about wellbeing and mental health.
Employment support
Get help to return to work, to stay in work and to thrive in work.

Good employment can help with mental health and wellbeing:

it provides purpose, routine, and social connection

it can boost mental health, improve financial security, and support overall wellbeing

it helps maintain confidence and independence

Support services will help you whether you’re out of work due to health, or otherwise, are at risk of leaving work, currently off sick and unsure about when to return to work or you are looking for a new role that better suits your needs.

For all Derby and Derbyshire residents who are struggling to gain or remain in work due to a health condition – Connect to Work – East Midlands Combined County Authority

Employment support for Derby city residents – Derby City Council

Working Well East Midlands – for Derby City residents – aims to help people with physical and mental health needs to find the right job, return to work after long-term sickness or keep their current job.

Derbyshire County Council Support – Disability Employment Service – Derbyshire County Council

Access to Work – gov.uk can help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability, providing practical and financial support beyond what employers are legally required to offer as ‘reasonable adjustments’

JobHelp is a UK Government resource designed to help people get job-ready, find work, and access support. It offers practical advice, tools, and links to services that make job searching easier.
Promote mental wellbeing
Environments and cultures can promote and enable positive wellbeing.

Make time for listening and connection. Listening well can make a big difference to improving wellbeing. As an organisation can you create more time when staff or clients/patients experience being listened to, meaningfully i.e. protected 1:1 time, some meetings with time for 2-way discussions.

Promote and support the Five Ways to Wellbeing. These evidence-based steps to wellbeing are to be active, take notice, give, connect, and to learn new skills. Can you adapt these to the groups you are working with i.e. supporting staff teams to keep moving in the day, or support communities to have the opportunity to connect differently during this period?

Think about creating space in workplaces or communities where it is safe to talk and where it is okay not to be okay. Consider how you can support a workplace culture where time for a break and looking after yourself is both encouraged and also enabled (i.e. meetings and tasks aren’t over lunch breaks).

How you can promote mental well-being

Share, embed, and model core mental wellbeing messages. Messages to consider, include; ‘It’s okay not be okay’ ‘We’re all human’ ‘Anxiety is a normal human response’. How can you show staff and communities these messages have meaning? (i.e. creating safe environments for people to talk about how they’re feeling such as more uninterrupted settings/meetings).

Key signposting and resources

Five Ways to Wellbeing. Information on the Derbyshire Council website on the Five Ways to Wellbeing and how to apply the principles during the pandemic.

Psychological First Aid Training. Free accessible training on promoting mental health and wellbeing at this time.

NHS apps library – Mental Health A list of NHS-approved apps to promote mental wellbeing, the majority are free of charge.

Live Life Better Derbyshire or Live Well Derby for Lifestyle Change support.
Increase mental health awareness
For many, mental health self-help information and guidance can be beneficial and reassuring. For some people, this may even prevent the need for services, and reduce the likelihood of further mental health problems arising.

Normalise talking about mental health. Create workplaces and communities where it feels safe to talk about mental health and myths about mental health are challenged (i.e. online mental health awareness or discussion sessions in standard meetings).

Increase access to trustworthy information on common mental health problems, self-help resources, and local and national mental health services. Think about how you can share this information most effectively (i.e. websites, sign-in pop-ups, screensavers, leaflets, posters).

Awareness resources

Mental Health training Derbyshire County Council. Access to free mental health training (currently online).

Mind – Coronavirus and your wellbeing. A comprehensive website with information on a range of mental health problems.
Mental Health and Crisis Services
Some people you work with, and support, may need mental health support from a mental health professional – now or in the future. It can feel complicated to know where to signpost people, and what to tell them to expect. Sometimes this support may be needed in a crisis, and this can be anxiety-provoking.

Key actions in a crisis

Create a culture of conversations – Ask questions about how people are feeling, listen and then respond. Listening can make a big difference. Take all self-harm and suicidal thoughts seriously, it’s ok to ask, ‘have you had any thoughts of wanting to harm yourself lately?’

Reinforce the message that there is always someone to talk to. Some people have felt cautious to ask for help during the pandemic, it’s important to address this and encourage people to still ask for help if needed. It’s important to share the message that support is there as usual – GPs (telephone appointments) and A&E (when there is a medical emergency or life threatening situation).

Mental health crisis resources

The Derbyshire Mental Health Support Line 0800 028 0077 is a free phone 24/7 support line which can offer mental health support, including crisis support. If you are in Derby and Derbyshire at the time of your call, you can also reach the helpline by dialling 111 and selecting option 2. Wherever you are in the country, you can dial 111 and select the ‘mental health’ option to reach the NHS helpline in your area. The line is staffed by local mental health professionals, and for all ages. Professionals can also call for advice.

Samaritans offers 24/7 free phone support for those in distress. Tel: 116 123.

Zero Suicide Alliance training. Brief online training on suicide awareness.
Derby & Derbyshire All Age Mental Health, Neurodiversity and Learning Disability Alliance

Derby & Derbyshire All Age Mental Health, Neurodiversity and Learning Disability Alliance has been developed through close co-production with commissioners and providers from the NHS, Local Authorities, Derbyshire Constabulary, Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) and Independent sector organisations with advice and support from people with expertise and understanding of service provision and access from professional and personal perspective as well as an expert by experience who has provided healthy challenge, input, and advice.

The alliance partnership agreement

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Health checks for those with serious mental illness

Mental health inpatient strategy and updates

Mental health inpatient facilities in Derby and Derbyshire are places where people can access short term specialist care and support when they are too unwell to be supported in their homes or communities.

Inpatient care in Derbyshire for people with mental health needs is provided by Derbyshire Community Health Services and Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust.