Supporting mental health with VR and children affected by the pandemic are just two of the projects to get share of almost £2 million
Nearly £2 million has been awarded to organisations across Scotland to help people live well and take control of their health and wellbeing.
This includes an innovative new VR mental health project and a service to help young people living with mental health problems following the pandemic.
The Self Management Fund, administered by the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE), awards the grants each year to organisations supporting people living with long term conditions, disabled people and unpaid carers.
A total of 31 projects received £1.9 million through the fund. For a full list of projects visit here.
Projects the length and breadth of Scotland receive one-to-three-year funding, with this year's fund aimed at helping supporting people in the early stages of a long term condition diagnosis, disabled people or an unpaid carer to develop skills to manage their own health and wellbeing.
Other priorities this year included reducing barriers to health and social care support and services and developing self management skills in people waiting for specialist health or social care support.
Self management is a way of living and working that means people living with long term conditions feel more in control of their own health and wellbeing. It supports people to live their lives better, on their terms.
Sara Redmond, chief officer at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, said: “The strength and diversity of projects in this round reflects the best of Scotland’s third sector. We are pleased to continue to support self management, a critical component of person-centred care, through the fund and continue our focus on ensuring that people have access to the benefits of self management as early as possible.”
Among those awarded grants this year are a new VR Support project, run by the Cyrenians. The project will use virtual reality to support the development of mental health techniques and address social isolation.
Using advanced technology, the programme will offer immersive VR experiences to promote mindfulness, relaxation, as well as supporting people to overcome anxiety of, for example, crowded spaces.
Cyrenians CEO Ewan Aitken said: "We are very grateful to the Health and Social Care Alliance for their recent support allowing us to invest in new ways to use technology to support mental health.
“This is a novel approach to mental health support – it will allow us to offer exposure therapy and mindfulness practices to those we support through our Falkirk projects. Being able to offer these tools alongside our group and 1-2-1 support will allow us to provide personalised scenarios to tackle anxiety and social isolation, fostering resilience and promoting emotional wellbeing.”
Another one of the other 31 projects to be awarded a grant was YMCA Tayside, for its Y Thrive service, which will support pupils in Perth and Kinross with mental health problems before it becomes long term. The area has seen a 70% increase in absences since the pandemic and the new services will support those with consistent ‘emotional absences’.
Jill McGrath, chief executive officer at YMCA Tayside, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have secured £120,000 from the Self- Management Fund through the Health and Care Social Alliance Scotland. We believe this vital and exciting project will make a significant difference in the lives of over 60 young people from Perth and Kinross within the three-year period.
“Providing a service that is becoming increasingly crucial in the current mental health landscape. Equipping young people with key strategies and coping mechanisms to address their wellbeing, through both group sessions and one to one. We already know the difference a volunteer mentor can make to individuals, giving them dedicated time enables trusting relationships to be established. We look forward to working in partnership with Perth and Kinross Schools, Educational Psychologists and Counsellors to have the greatest impact.”
This investment from the Self Management Fund, administered by the ALLIANCE, is made possible by the continued support and investment from the Scottish Government.
The ALLIANCE is the national third sector membership organisation for the health and social care sector, representing 3,500 members.
