More communities supported through innovative psychology service

An innovative service aimed at strengthening community resilience around physical and mental health and wellbeing is supporting more people across Swansea Bay.

The community psychology service provides early intervention to help prevent the need for people to access clinical support.

Each community psychologist engages with their community to develop a psychological understanding of the needs, assets and factors impacting on residents’ mental health and wellbeing.

They link up with organisations, services and residents within their cluster’s area to understand what is available to people and what could be built on to improve wellbeing.

Initially launched in the Cwmtawe Local Cluster Collaborative (LCC), it has since extended to the Afan, Bay Health, City Health, Llwchwr and Upper Valleys LCCs.

Dr Jordanne Thomas (pictured) has taken on the role of community psychologist for Bay Health LCC, which covers areas including Sketty, Uplands, Killay, Mumbles, Gower and the university campus.

“When I first started, I met with our other community psychologists, as well as some from different health boards to understand more about the role,” she said.

“That helped me understand what can be achieved by working with individuals and through partnerships, to get to the heart of the underlying psychological factors feeding into mental and physical health and wellbeing in that area, which was very useful.

“I have been assessing and gathering information on the key assets already within the Bay Health Cluster area and seeking to understand where any unmet needs are.

“I have been linking in with as many people as I can and different organisations and sectors to gather information on what their offer is, what their wellbeing initiatives are, and so on.

“I also want to go out to different villages within the cluster to see what facilities are there and what is available in the community, as a way of mapping those areas.”

One theme that emerged within the cluster was the need for support for perinatal mental health and wellbeing, with low confidence, anxiety and low mood identified as some of the issues affecting parents in the area.

As a result, a parent and infant emotional wellbeing group intervention was launched as a way of educating and supporting parents with their adjustment into parenthood.

Health visitors from the health board have been trained to run the psychologically informed groups, which are held in community venues.

Jordanne added: “Community psychology also helps to harness the assets in the community to best meet people’s needs.

“Integral to the model is partnership working and in these early days I have enjoyed the opportunity to partner with health visiting staff, the local authority, education and the third sector.

“I have also been working with the local authority Early Help Hub staff to help them provide appropriate support to parents they are working with.

“So, if they notice certain topics or questions coming up frequently, they can come to me and we can think in a psychologically informed way about the appropriate support, and they can hopefully support those parents.

“I have also met with some of the local schools’ in-reach teams to understand what support they provide for parental wellbeing.”

The overall aim of the service is to prevent and mitigate distress in the community and to reduce the need for people to seek help from services by ensuring communities are resilient and can provide support where needed.

Jordanne added: “Our core aim for the service is prevention and early intervention; to support communities to build their resilience so they can lean on each other and live well despite life’s challenges.

“We want people to live well and age well in their community and capitalise on their relationships and assets.

“One of the biggest factors for that is connection and relationships and having a social support network around individuals that helps people thrive.

“We are also partnering with Swansea University to evaluate the community psychology service, which is important for us to ensure its longevity and efficiency and that it is meeting the needs for the individuals.”

Sharon Miller, Associate Service Group Director for primary and community services, said: “We now have five community psychologists working within the health board in Cwmtawe, Afan, Bay Health, City Health, Llwchwr and Upper Valleys and they are involved in 12 large initiatives.

“This is a great start, and we hope to build on this work going forward.”

Dr Sarah Collier, Swansea Bay’s Head of Psychology, said: “I am incredibly proud to see this service continue to grow and to learn directly from communities about the factors that influence health, wellbeing and resilience.

“Our community psychologists work alongside residents, partners and local organisations to develop tailored, psychologically informed approaches that build on community strengths and respond to local needs.

“The team bring a wealth of expertise that can be shared with communities and partner organisations to support better mental health and wellbeing for the future.

“It has been inspiring to see the difference this work can make, from parents reporting increased confidence and stronger relationships with their children, to individuals feeling better able to access employment opportunities and community support.”