Asylum Seeker Mental Health Champions Pilot Programme

Would you like to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of your service for Refugees and Asylum seekers?

Solace is working alongside NHS England NEY regional team Heather Stonebank Clinical Programmes Manager and Jacqui Cheesman Clinical Projects Manager who provide improvement support for mental health services in the region to offer the opportunity to participate in a 12 month pilot programme to embed the role of Refugee Mental Health Champion into mental health services in Yorkshire and Humber region.
Further information is attached, but we are looking for organisations who want to take positive steps to reduce the barriers refugees face in accessing effective therapeutic support. We will provide training and support, in return for helping to evaluate the impact of a Refugee Mental Health Champion.

Initially we are looking for NHS Talking Therapy providers as they reach the widest population, but we are also interested in hearing from other mental health service providers so we can understand what the different needs are.
In outline, the proposal is for services to identify an experienced therapist who can undertake training, and participate in ongoing support through a community of practice and then embed the learning into the organisation. We ask for one hour per week to be provided for this work. In addition there is a requirement to have a named person in the organisation who will support the practitioner in their role and take the lead on introducing changes or improvements.

Participating will help reduce health inequalities, improve outcomes for a vulnerable population, and reduce stress for therapists who lack confidence in working with this population group. It will also enable organisations to contribute to the learning in this area of good practice, help meet the high levels of need for support and develop professional development skills within your team.

If you would like to find out more, without any commitment, please read more about the programme here and complete an expression of interest form (link in the description) and we will be in touch to discuss further.