caring Communication
1MwOD8S
1MwOD8S
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Feature<br />
New poster campaign<br />
Good mental<br />
healthbegins<br />
at birth<br />
hree eye-catching posters<br />
promoting good<br />
T infant mental<br />
health have been<br />
circulated to a<br />
wide range of public venues,<br />
including HSE buildings, libraries,<br />
crèches and playschools.<br />
They are the brainchild of the<br />
North East Infant Mental Health<br />
(NEIMH) committee, a multidisciplinary<br />
special interest group,<br />
consisting of a broad range of<br />
allied health care professionals.<br />
The posters or resources are used<br />
to promote infant mental health to<br />
staff and the public.<br />
The NEIMH are keen to promote<br />
the idea that good mental<br />
health begins from birth, to raise<br />
awareness of infant mental health<br />
amongst professionals and the<br />
public; and, to further educate<br />
themselves, other professionals and<br />
the public on infant mental health<br />
matters. They meet four times a year.<br />
“Membership of NEIMH is relevant<br />
to professionals who are interested<br />
in infant mental health. There is also<br />
an element of promotion and information<br />
sharing with other professionals and<br />
education of ourselves, making links with<br />
other bodies both locally, nationally and<br />
internationally,” explained Niamh Brown,<br />
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist at CAMHS,<br />
who chaired the group in 2015.<br />
A young child’s capacity to experience,<br />
regulate and express emotions, form close<br />
and secure relationships, and explore the<br />
environment and learn is crucial to their<br />
healthy social and emotional development.<br />
These are strongly promoted in a loving and<br />
<strong>caring</strong> environment from birth.<br />
The group discussed what would best get<br />
this message across to parents, carers and<br />
other professionals and decided to design<br />
posters for distribution. The posters contain<br />
simple messages to promote a baby’s<br />
emotional wellbeing<br />
– talking to them, having fun with them<br />
and telling them what they are good<br />
at. Primary Care Psychology secured<br />
funding for the posters and the group<br />
set about coming up with the core<br />
message.<br />
“We put forward phrases that<br />
represent good infant mental health<br />
and happy babies,” said Niamh.<br />
When the final designs were<br />
agreed upon, they went to print.<br />
NEIMH distributed the posters<br />
within the Meath, Louth and<br />
Cavan/Monaghan catchment<br />
area. The response has been<br />
very positive. If anyone would<br />
like any posters, contact Niamh Brown in<br />
Meath, Ger O’Riordan/Marie French in Louth<br />
or Cheryl Comiskey in Cavan/Monaghan.<br />
38 | health matters | spring 2016
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