Gender and Women's
Mental Health Foundation Programme
Programme Introduction and Overview
The National Women’s Mental Health
Strategy was developed in recognition
that the needs of women service users
were not being adequately addressed. Alongside
the Race Equality Framework, it represents
an essential element of DoH policy to
tackle inequalities. It is not the intention
to focus on the needs of women, at the
expense of men, but to ensure equality
of service delivery for all.
Gender and Women’s Mental Health:
Implementation Guidance, which was greatly
informed by the prior consultation, outlines
a series of aims, recommended actions
and expected outcomes to:
- develop a gendered context for mental
health and social care – across
research, planning, commissioning, service
organisation and delivery;
- deliver distinct high quality services
for women service users.
It includes advice and resources to assist
with implementation, examples of ‘good
practice’ and DoH actions to facilitate
this process.
Core Messages of the Guidance
- develop gender sensitive services
taking account of gender differences
in women and men
- listen to what women are saying they
want and need;
- take full account of the causes and
context of women's mental health in
addition to addressing their symptoms;
- ensure that women are kept safe in
mental health services;
- increase the number and range of women-only
services ie acute inpatient care, crisis
and respite houses, community day services
and secure services;
- acknowledge and address the high prevalence
and impact of violence and abuse - child
sexual abuse, domestic violence and
sexual violence (outside the home) -
on women's mental health;
- improve services for specific groups
of women: those who are from black and
minority ethnic communities, who are
mothers, who are offenders with mental
ill health, who self-harm, have a personality
disorder, have a dual diagnosis with
substance misuse, have peri-natal mental
ill health and who experience eating
disorders with detailed service specifications
for women-only community day services
and secure mental health services.
The Foundation Programme which is hosted by the East Midlands Development Centre, within its
limited capacity, aims to support mental
health services in delivery of the Implementation
Guidance with respect to the following
key priorities for 2004/05:
- Encourage mental health trusts (and
primary care trusts wherever possible)
to appoint a senior women's lead to
progress the following:
- develop three year planning processes,
if Trusts are open to this preferable
strategic approach (see Section 3 of
the Guidance: Planning at Local Level);
- ensure women's safety in acute inpatient
mixed-sex wards (see Section 7.3);
- establish self-contained women's ward(s)
in acute inpatient care (see Section
7.1.1);
- address violence and abuse as a core
mental health issue (see Section 8.1);
- adopt a more woman focused approach
to assessment and care planning, including
the routine exploration of violence
and abuse, notably childhood sexual
abuse (see Section 5.1);
- establish women-only crisis houses
(see Section 7.1.2)
- develop a sensitive and appropriate
approach to working with women who self
harm (see Section 8.5).
- liaise with PCTs in the commissioning
of new or extended women-only community
day services (NHS Plan Deliverable -
performance indicator for PCT star ratings).
NB Commissioning Guidelines will be
launched at a conference in Birmingham
in Autumn '04 on Women Only Community
Day Services.
The Women's Lead in each Development
Centre will set up a regional network
of Trust Women's Leads for mutual support,
to share problems/solutions and to monitor
progress.
There are also a number of National
Actions and Initiatives being taken forward
at national level by the National Lead,
Liz Mayne. Please do contact her direct
for further information on these.
|
 |
|
