Facebook Groups for Minds for Health UK

We now have two new groups on Facebook:

The Minds for Health UK group - this group will help spread awareness about the charity, and keep you up-to-date with news or fundraising events.

A group for volunteers - a place for volunteers to get to know each other, organize fundraising events, and ask questions.

These groups should make it much easier for people affiliated with the charity to keep in touch and stay up-to-date. Please join!

Information Talks for Volunteers in Leeds and York, 2012

In 2011 Minds for Health UK helped 23 volunteers take up placements at Antara. This year we are looking to recruit undergraduates, graduates, medical elective students or those already working in healthcare or research.

So far two information talks have been arranged: one in Leeds University and one in York University. We encourage everyone interested in finding out more about volunteering and how to apply to attend one of these presentations.

The details are as follows:

Leeds

Date: Monday 23rd January 2012
Time: 12:00pm
Venue: Room 11.17, Sociology Building, University of Leeds

York

Date: Saturday 28th January 2012
Time: 11:00am
Venue: G/020 (Seminar Room), James College, York University

If you would like more information, or if you are interested but unable to attend either meeting, please contact Hannah Jones at volunteer@mindsforhealth.org.uk. Some general information about volunteering can be found on the Direct Support page.

Letter Exchange

Minds for Health runs a Letter Exchange programme, in which patients in Antaragram correspond with people in the UK, sharing experiences and finding out about life on the other side of the world. You can find out more about the Letter Exchange on the Direct Support page, or by emailing Lauren Haigh on letters@mindsforhealth.org.uk.

Affiliation to Medsin national student network

Medsin is a national network engaging medical and other students in the UK in health inequalities and international health. Minds for Health UK has participated in Medin's annual Global Health Conferences for the past three years and its branch at Warwick started as a local Medsin project at the medical school.

Building on these connections, in October 2010, branches coordinator Kat Rumball attended Medsin's Autumn General Assembly where Minds for Health was unanimously voted in as an affiliated project.
The hope is to use the Medsin network to develop more local MfH branches, bring our work to a wider audience and ultimately to engage medical and other students in the Movement for Global Mental Health.
For more information contact our new branches coordinator, James Mcfarlane at branches@mindsforhealth.org.uk.

Antara starts mental health services for older patients from MfH facility

Mental illness in older age and neuro-psychiatric disorders such as dementia and Parkinson's Disease are emerging problems in Low and Middle Income Countries. As populations age the burdens of such disorders are growing. There is also an increasing recognition that older people face social challenges including deprivation through illness, death of partners or social exclusion.
Antara has envisaged the development of a comprehensive mental health services for older age, mirroring its development of children's services with inpatient, outpatient and community-based elements. MfH's child outpatient department will provide the physical base for outpatient and community services with clinics arranged on different days.
We welcome these developments but recognise an ongoing need to ensure free and highly subsidised care for more deprived patients and families requiring mental healthcare in older age.