LIGONIEL Healthy Living Centre has partnered up with the Mental Health Foundation to improve mental health for people with long-term health conditions.
The new partnership will work with people with long-term physical health conditions and the Healthy Living Centre Alliance to develop a ‘Mental Health for Better Days’ module for their self-management programmes.
Maria Burke, Strategic Development Manager at Ligoniel Healthy Living Centre, said: "We look forward to partnering with the Mental Health Foundation as we seek to embed mental health prevention across the centre.
"The need within North Belfast is extremely high and so working together and pulling our resources will enable us to better respond.”
Tony Doherty, Healthy Living Centre Alliance, added: “We know that by empowering people to take more control of their personal health and by working with communities to reduce the effects of inequalities, we can all have better health outcomes.
"Through the network of 29 Healthy Living Centres, we have seen first-hand the impact on people's mental health throughout the pandemic, and now which is being exasperated further by the current cost of living crisis. The partnership with the Mental Health Foundation enables us to strengthen our mental health focus across the network and in our programmes.
Karen Hall, Head of Northern Ireland at Mental Health Foundation, said: “People living with a long-term health condition are more likely to experience mental health problems including anxiety and depression.
"Managing symptoms, medication and the relentless nature of many health conditions can take its toll on mental health and well-being.
"The pandemic exasperated this further, and we are still living with the impact, which is why Mental Health Foundation is investing in additional support to be made available across Northern Ireland.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Healthy Living Centres, who are based in the heart of communities and proactively work to reduce health inequalities.”
The project is currently underway with an analysis of the training needs of each centre being undertaken and research with people with long-term conditions to start soon.
