Hearty Lives Bolsover
Research has
shown that people with mental health problems can be twice as
likely to die from cardiovascular disease due to medication and
lifestyle factors.
Hearty Lives Bolsover was a £100,000 project working in
partnership with NHS Derbyshire
County. The project has now finished.
Our aim
To reduce heart disease related deaths among people with severe
mental health problems living in Bolsover district through:
- auditing patient attendance to heart health appointments, eg
NHS Health Checks
- identifying how we can support mental health service users to
better access available services
- training primary care staff in mental health awareness
- training professionals who work with service users in the BHF
Healthy Hearts Kit
- running events such as Art 4 Heart and healthy cooking courses
to educate service users about their increased risk of heart
disease and promoting healthier lifestyles
Sheila Platt, who has a professional background as a mental
health nurse, was the full-time project coordinator working with
mental health teams, GP practices, voluntary and local
organisations in Bolsover. She worked with over 40
organisations in total.
"We wanted to help address issues of inequality by helping
residents with mental health conditions access treatment for
the prevention and care of cardiovascular disease."
Successes
- the project launch was attended by 115 mental health service
users, carers and staff. 96 per cent of participants
said the event had increased their knowledge of heart disease
and 80 per cent said they would either do more exercise or eat
more fruit and veg
- At least 58 professionals have been trained using our Healthy Hearts Kit.
- 12 Health Care Assistants have been trained in mental health
awareness
- Our Art 4 the Heart event was attended by 7 service users
- 50 people attended the unveiling of four professional pieces of
heart artwork to celebrate World Heart Day and World Mental
Health Day
- 27 per cent increase in uptake of health checks by mental
health service users
- New British Heart Foundation resource on mental health and
heart disease in production as a result of the project.
- Acceptance to the NICE
shared learning database with relation to treatment of
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
More info
For more information about Hearty Lives Bolsover please contact
Area Development Manager Jane Palmer on palmerj@bhf.org.uk.