We are excited to officially our new Physical and Public Health Strategy.
This strategy sets out our vision for a service that enables people in our care to become and remain physically healthy.
We know that physical health and mental health influence each other. Supporting physical health is therefore a key part of preventing mental illness and a core part of mental health treatment. That is why we want to ensure physical health is everyone’s business.
The purpose of the strategy is to provide clear direction to our staff and partners to ensure that our service users:
- Have improved physical health outcomes
- Understand the support offer for their physical health in the wider healthcare system
Our service users are living in poorer health and dying up to 20 years younger than their peers. Physical health is a significant cause of early death and disability in our service users. It is estimated that for people with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) 2 in 3 deaths are from physical illnesses that can be prevented.
Physical illness can be a result of social circumstances, such as access to stable employment, suitable housing and social support.
Our services users are also more likely to have health damaging behaviours such as smoking and are less likely to access screening programmes, which are a key part of identifying and treating physical health problems early. They can also suffer from poor physical health as a result of medication they take for their mental health problem.
This ambitious strategy aims to address these factors and tackle the disparities we see in physical health outcomes between people with a serious mental illness or learning disability and the general population.
Most importantly, this strategy takes a proactive approach to physical and public health that aims to prevent the development of physical illness in the first place, as well as treat and manage conditions early.
By supporting our staff and partners to meet the aims set out, we will ensure that everyone in our care is supported as a whole person with both mental and physical health needs, no matter who they are or where they live.