Resource: 4 Mental Health’s wellbeing plan and safety plan

Nursing Times has collected information on a series of free virtual courses and resources that are relevant to the Covid-19: Are You OK? campaign and being offered by a variety of organisations, unions and charities.

The company 4 Mental Health, which develops training courses for a range of professionals and self-help resources for the public, has created two free resources on mental health and wellbeing.

It said the free resources, which were commissioned by NHS England, are already widely used across health service trusts, clinical commissioning groups and public health departments throughout the UK.

One is focused on helping people to build a safety plan to reduce suicidal thoughts and the second is based around creating a physical and mental wellbeing plan to support mental health.

Staying Safe, from suicidal thoughts – How to make your own safety plan (suicide mitigation)

The Staying Safe website offers ways to help keep people safer from thoughts of harm and suicide, how to seek support and hope of recovery through videos from people with personal experience.

It provides templates and guidance video tutorials purposefully designed to help people through the process of writing their own safety plan to build hope, identify actions and strategies to resist suicidal thoughts and develop positive ways to cope with stress and emotional distress.

The website was highly commended at both the 2020 BMJ Awards and the 2020 This Can Happen Awards.

Alison Beech, director of 4 Mental Health, said: “All of us involved in developing this website have very personal reasons for being so invested in helping others stay safe.

“It may be the first step some people take in addressing their distress and therefore will hopefully lead them on to recognising and then widening their support base. We all need to know that there is hope and that people do care and want to help.”

Building your wellbeing and helping you cope– How to make your own wellbeing plan

The second website, Building your wellbeing and helping you cope, was commissioned by NHS England in March 2020 to support NHS staff, particularly through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The site features a downloadable physical and mental wellbeing plan, plus ideas on what to include in the plan, and a leaflet called Coronavirus and looking after your mental wellbeing.

It was designed by a group who want to help anyone “struggling with the very challenging situation we are all in to feel a bit calmer and find new ways to help them cope”, said 4 Mental Health.