Preventing Suicide and Deliberate Self Harm
Laying the Foundations: Identifying Practice Examples
Project Report
3. Men In Mind, Edinburgh
Target Group
Men in Mind was set up three years ago by the Edinburgh Association for Mental Health to provide support services for black and ethnic minority men with mental health problems. The project accepts self-referrals, and referrals from other agencies.
Services/approach
The project provides a variety of services that provide support, as well as raising awareness about mental health. The project works with 'mental health by stealth'. The aim is to help people with their mental health, but not be 'in your face' about it.
One-to-One Work
The project offers one-to-one work, giving people an opportunity to talk about issues that might be troubling them. The project workers come from ethnic minority backgrounds, so the men who use the service can feel comfortable in talking to them.
People can face difficulties due to racism, and how they are perceived by other people, and these issues can be talked about at the project. Sometimes the men who use the project have problems with their identity, due to the fact that they may be living across two cultures. They may be rejected by one culture, but not necessarily have an identity with another culture.
The project has supported people with suicidal intent by providing one-to-one support. For example, someone may be a refugee who is escaping horrific experiences in their home country and they may want one-to-one support for this.
In terms of self-harm, little research has been undertaken on black and ethnic-minority groups. There are people who self-harm, but Men in Mind don't tend to be contacted about this. The lack of research means that it is difficult for the project to establish the extent of need. People often don't want to talk about their experiences, for example, sexual abuse. It is very difficult for the project to know what can be done about supporting people who self harm, without additional resources.
Drop-in service
This is for men to get together, share experiences and give each other mutual support. The project works with people who can be quite isolated, and this is something that often affects their mental health problem.
The Forum
This is an opportunity for service users to provide feedback to the project on how the project is doing and to discuss service gaps and future developments in the project. The Forum is also used as an opportunity to bring in outside organisations such as benefits advice agencies to talk to the men at the project. This type of contact can be beneficial in that, for example, the reasons why so few men from the project have accessed the benefits advice service in the past can be explored and acted upon.
Other services
The project also helps people deal with issues such as unemployment, financial difficulties, difficulties in getting welfare benefits and housing. The project also helps men get in touch with other agencies that might be able to help them.
Many of the men have lost confidence and have little self-esteem. The project can help build these back up again as well as help people identify coping strategies. Many people who use the project have been long-term users of mental health services. It is difficult to get back into the community, and racism can cause difficulties, affecting a person's self-confidence. Stress management and help with relaxation are important. An external agency provides weekly massage sessions at the project.
The project runs an environmental issues group that organises day trips out of town. It can take people a while to see the relevance of this to their mental health, but people who use the project have found that both getting out of the city, and having an opportunity to take part in outdoor activities can have a positive effect on their mental health. It can also help people tackle their isolation and anxiety, and to access places that they wouldn't usually to due both perceived and real barriers.
The project also runs drama workshops, and service users staged a play 'The Drama of Life' which was an opportunity for people to talk about mental health in their own words. A cyber group is also run which helps the men gain confidence in themselves and their ability to use computers. The group helps people express themselves by giving them the opportunity to work with editing software on photos that they themselves have taken. The group has been important in helping people get through the barriers of learning new skills, and by helping people with accessing other educational opportunities.
The project recently published 'Silence of the Lads' on the mental health of men from an ethnic minority background. The report identified needs that had not been met already, and explored the concepts that people have of mental health. It identified that current services need to adopt approaches which fit better with perceptions that are held by people with mental health problems.
The project uses a developmental approach in that it is always evolving according to the issues that it has to tackle, and the needs that it has to address. For example, the project is currently putting together a training pack on black and ethnic minority men and mental health for health, housing and other workers. The aim is also to influence health policy developments.
Key features
For further information, contact:
Sylvain Ayite, Development Worker
Men In Mind
56 Queen Charlotte Street
Leith, Edinburgh
Tel 0131 553 3344