Last week was mental health awareness week. Talking about our mental health can be very difficult. It is often especially taboo in communities with a long history of being told we’re irrational, too emotional, or crazy.
That is why in January we published a report on the wellbeing views of Oxford’s new and emerging communities, ‘We Will Swallow Our Words Back Down’, co-produced with Healthwatch Oxfordshire and hundreds of community volunteers.
Our report showed that there is a huge appetite within our communities to learn more about, gain skills and receive support to improve health and wellbeing. The message was loud and clear: to build access, trust and create culturally appropriate services, we need more support designed and delivered with our input, within community settings, and building on community networks. Together with our partners, we continue to advocate for these changes within a system that is very slow to change.
We send all our community members solidarity this week, and the other 51 mental health weeks of the year. Because your mental health matters every week.
Our full report: tinyurl.com/OCAFullReport01.
A summary: tinyurl.com/OCAReportSummary
A short film about the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cs51ejZZIk…
For more on Healthwatch Oxfordshire in English, Swahili, Arabic, Somali, and Tetum, check out their website here: https://healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk/…/posters-and…/…