NHS Surrey & Borders Partnership - CHAT
Communication and understanding was the key. We learned all we could about mental health and Nepalese culture. We spoke to local community health ambassadors, most of whom were Nepalese. With this knowledge we developed a multi-resource campaign to reach in to the heart of the Nepalese community. The CHAT (Community Health Ambassador Team) campaign was born; an informal, attractive array of communication platforms such as a simple website, posters, flyers and a discreet booklet. The central idea was that chatting about mental health issues was permitted and encouraged, and that the community health ambassadors were there for support.
We developed all campaign material in Nepalese as well as English, and after finding out that Facebook played an important part for Nepalese young people, we created a Facebook page signposting people to www.itsgoodtochat.com, the campaign website. We’re pleased that the ambassadors now have a range of effective and attractive resources to help the Nepalese community. The campaign has been rolled out across the whole of Surrey, even gaining Prime Minister DavidCameron’s attention.
Rushmoor’s thriving Nepalese residents are long established within the community and contribute much to local society. However, Surrey and Borders Partnership (SABP) recognised that culturally mental health issues among this community remained unrecognised, unacknowledged and untreated because mental illness was felt to be a stigma. We’re proud to have played a very important part in supporting SABP’s campaign to change the culture so that the community individuals could receive the help they needed.
Communication and understanding was the key. We learned all we could about mental health and Nepalese culture. We spoke to local community health ambassadors, most of whom were Nepalese. With this knowledge we developed a multi-resource campaign to reach in to the heart of the Nepalese community. The CHAT (Community Health Ambassador Team) campaign was born; an informal, attractive array of communication platforms such as a simple website, posters, flyers and a discreet booklet. The central idea was that chatting about mental health issues was permitted and encouraged, and that the community health ambassadors were there for support.
We developed all campaign material in Nepalese as well as English, and after finding out that Facebook played an important part for Nepalese young people, we created a Facebook page signposting people to www.itsgoodtochat.com, the campaign website. We’re pleased that the ambassadors now have a range of effective and attractive resources to help the Nepalese community. The campaign has been rolled out across the whole of Surrey, even gaining Prime Minister DavidCameron’s attention.
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