The life expectancy of those living with SMI (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other psychoses) is 15-20 years shorter than that for the general population, and this is largely due to preventable physical illnesses (source: NHS England).

We’re working to change this in Wakefield District.

Enter Rachel, our Lead Community Mental Health Builder, who works to bridge the gap between statutory services and the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector.

A year ago, Rachel joined a design group focused on redesigning the pack sent out to patients with SMI inviting them to an annual health check.

National and local uptake for these important checks at GP surgeries is low, so the group planned to change the information being sent out to remove any barriers and encourage more people to book and attend their health check.

Here’s Rachel to tell you more about the project:

Since June 2023, I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the design group. A similar project had just finished in Calderdale with very positive results increasing numbers of annual health checks for those with an SMI. Funding was sourced from Core20PLUS5 so we could do the same in Wakefield District. Leading the project were Sophie Peel from SWYT (NHS) and Tracey Williams from Cloverleaf Advocacy.

The joy of this project was the wide range of people involved in the regular design group, we had people with lived experience of SMI, primary care staff and VCSE representation. This felt different, the word co-production is often used but this project truly felt co-produced. Everyone had an equal say and each person was valued.

We had scope as a group to take the project where we felt it needed to go with no strict guidelines or preconceived ideas of what the finished materials would look like. This freedom was empowering and amazing materials produced by the group are testament to this way of working.

The design group chose local artist Tony Wade from Edgeland Arts to work with us on the project and he brought some fantastic insights to the work. Rather than him producing the illustrations Tony suggested a participatory approach where he would make up silk painting kits and take them to mental health groups so they could create the illustrations.

This idea was a huge success with some amazing art works produced and some beautiful comments from groups about the experience.

"This was a “first” experience of taking part in an artist-led workshop and each one of our women were bowled over by the work they produced. They are now very keen to build on this and they would like to share it with the rest of the women from our group."

Thank you again. The feedback from the women regarding working with Tony was so positive. Some of our women struggle to be around men but the women today said how comfortable they felt with him and how great it would be to work with him again.”

The outcome of the project

The design group have produced a new letter, SMI health check booklet, reasonable adjustments form, envelope design and 6 short videos – all informed by the combined experience and knowledge of our design group members.

“When you bring people together you generate a powerhouse of insight, creativity and passion.”

We’re looking forward to the roll out of these materials and what impact they can have for people living with SMI. For example, one of the videos is aimed at GP staff, giving them ways to make the health check a more positive experience for patients.

What’s next?

The design group consistently talked about the lack of communication between primary and secondary care computer systems. This causes issues when patients receive health check reminders from both services, and neither can see who has completed what tests. Through the SMI design group and driven forward by innovative NHS colleagues a pilot trialling better connections between these systems is underway in Wakefield.

An unexpected but hugely positive development from this project!

The videos from this project

Please give these a watch and share them with anyone you think may benefit – people with SMI, their support networks, and organisations supporting them.

• What is an SMI?
• Annual Physical Health Checks
• Top Tips for Annual Physical Health Check
• Top Tips for GPs
• Social Prescribing
• Making of the packs

Rachel said “this has been one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve had the pleasure of being involved with, I have met and worked alongside some fabulous people, and I am so proud of the work we produced as a team”.