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Supporting mental health online

Regular readers will remember that our community members have been learning together with online Zoom sessions during lockdown.

A space to talk and share

Alex, who lives at Larchfield Community, and support worker Debbie knew that after the stress of lockdown, many people would welcome extra support. They researched online resources and prepared a four-week Zoom course on mental health and wellbeing. Almost 20 people from our different communities took part.

Capturing our feelings in ‘worry jars’ and ‘hope and wish jars’ has been a popular part of the course.

‘The jars help us talk about our feelings,’ says Alex. ‘I put a day out at Whitby with fish and chips in my wish jar!’

Continuing to support each other

Although the four-week course has been completed, many participants were keen to carry on. The workbook that Alex and Debbie produced for their course is now being shared in all our communities. We’re holding a weekly mental health ‘drop-in’ session on Zoom and training more staff to be mental health first aiders.

‘It’s good to raise awareness. People are sharing more about the impact Covid-19 is having on their mental health,’ says Debbie. Alex agrees that the Zoom sessions are a good idea.

‘The best part is that we can chat about different things, it makes you feel better after,’ she says. ‘I feel happy at the end of every Zoom class!’

Focusing on mental health

 

Supporting mental health online