Heartbeat December 2019

School nurses ask students ‘what
does mental health mean to you?’
When it comes to social media you can’t
go far wrong than asking a young person
for the low down. So that’s exactly what
school nurses Amy Wood and Diane
Edkins did, as they represented their
service at a school event ‘#UNFILTERED’
organised and hosted by St Michael's
C of E High School, as part of their 21st
Century Child student voice programme.
Amy explained: “The event was an amazing
opportunity to hear directly from young
people about how they navigate the complex
world of mental health. It also looked at how
their use of social media can affect it.
“We heard first hand from the students about
what it feels like to be them, and how they
interact with and use social media and the
pressures they internally face day to day by
their own peers. They explained what they
rank as good or bad in social media and
made insightful comments on topics including
male mental health, validation, popularity
performance and self-worth.
“The event was divided into three parts,
including the student-led presentation,
workshops facilitated by professionals and an
interactive market hall which allowed students
to engage with agencies and stalls.”
She continued: “We hosted a stall with the
hashtag ‘what does mental health mean to
Students from St Michael's C of E High School
taking part in the #UNFILTERED event
you’ and invited the students to tweet us to
start a conversation with us on this emotive
subject.”
Attending the event alongside the school
nursing team was our library and knowledge
service, and Service Development Librarian,
Nicola Ager. The team attended to share
PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITIES
AND THERAPIES
information on health by using interactive
games. Information around peer support
groups, activity clubs and self-help books
was also shared so that children could
continue to access these resources outside
of school.
Nicola said: “The event was thoughtprovoking,
as the children had put a huge
amount of effort and preparation into
their presentation. The other students
asked very challenging questions which
meant the event was worthwhile both
for the young people and the attending
agencies.”
Feedback left by the young people
following the event included comments
such as:
“It made me realise how amazing and
important I am.”
“It was really good because it makes you
feel good about yourself.”
“A good experience for me because I’m
struggling but it helped me.”
“I think it was really good because it
teaches people they aren’t alone!”
Community nurses bring Christmas
cheer to patients
Christmas is a time for joy and
happiness and thanks to donations
from Barclays Bank, community nurses
from our Trust will be bringing a little
Christmas cheer to some of our most
vulnerable patients on Christmas Day.
To find out more about the plans, Heartbeat
caught up with Community Matron,
Denise Owen, she said, “For most of us
at Christmas we’ll be surrounded by our
families with piles of presents to unwrap
and a feast to eat. As nurses working out
in the community, we know that this often
isn’t the case for many of our patients.
Often we go out to patients and are the
only people that patient will see that day
and sadly, this is the same over Christmas.
“This year in the iCares directorate we
decided to hold a charity raffle to use
the funds raised to give patients seen by
community staff on Christmas day a gift.
We contacted Barclays Bank and told them
about what we would like to do, and they
jumped on board donating raffle prizes and
helping us fill almost 100 Christmas gift
bags.
“The gift bags have a mix of items, from
chocolates and biscuits to gift sets for men
and women, there’s something in each for
every one of our patients.”
Beaming with pride, Denise explained how
the community has joined in with their
efforts, “When we’ve been out buying all of
the gifts, people have been stopping us to
find out what we’re doing and making their
own on the spot donations. People often
forget that behind the door of every little
bungalow will likely be one of our patients,
some have family and friends nearby but
many don’t. Hopefully, our little gesture
brings a smile to their faces when we see
them.”
If you’d like to join in with donating
to a good cause, contact Your Trust
Charity who can help you find
a worthy cause, email Amanda.
winwood@nhs.net or call ext. 4847.
Amongst a sea of neatly packed gift
bags, Barclays Bank Harborne Branch
Manager Rose Turner and Community
Banker Wendy Whitehouse pose alongside
Community Nursing colleagues at Oldbury
Health Centre
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