Training is underway for a pilot project which will offer rapid response mental health support to people in distress in County Durham.
Local charity Mental Health Concern (MHC) has joined forces with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) to spearhead the Distress Intervention Programme (DIB) in Derwentside.
The project, which will provide care and support for people in distress who do not require further emergency assistance, is expected to launch within weeks.
Helen Rennie, the newly appointed senior caseworker of the DBI Derwentside Project, said: “We will be offering a really pro-active service which is completely new in England, which is very exciting.”
MHC, which already provides mental health and wellbeing support to communities across the North East, will work with TEWV to provide the help needed to support those in distress.
Under the new programme:
- Referrals for help will come from police, GP surgeries, A&E, 111 and other frontline staff.
- Support offered will be flexible and can be remote or face-to-face in a community venue.
- Goal setting, grounding techniques in times of stress and developing connections in the local community to address social and practical needs will be among the help offered.
- Access will be seven days a week.
- Support will be provided for up to 14 consecutive days after referral.
The pilot follows the successful roll out of DBI in Scotland, where many of those helped say they may have attempted suicide or continued to have suicidal thoughts if not offered support.
Julia Perry, head of Crisis and Housing Services at MHC, said: “The service allows for a flexible person-centred approach, which wraps around the person seeking support at that moment.
“Results show that 90% of people referred to the DBI service so far agreed it had given them the tools and skills to manage their distress. I can’t wait to see the service in action here.”
The Scottish Association of Mental Health is supporting the launch of the Derwentside project and, this week, specialist practitioners from Scotland delivered local DBI training.
“Over the years it has been clear through the voices of people with lived experience of distress that our DBI service addresses a previously unmet need,” said Dr Jack Melson, a lecturer in mental health at Glasgow University and one of the trainers involved.
“The service is a crucial development to help us put in place connected, compassionate support for those involved. We have so far supported over 30,000 people in Scotland and would hope to see the same positive outcome in County Durham.”
Dr Sheryl Elliott, a TEWV Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist who is based at Durham City West, will be supporting the supervision and governance of the DBI training in Derwentside.
She today welcomed the launch of the local DBI project and said: “It is really exciting that we are the first area to pilot this outside of Scotland, and that it is for people aged 16-plus too.
“My hope is that we can help provide people with the care and support they need at an earlier stage, so that hopefully they won’t need to go on to a higher level care.”
