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Irish mental health in Birmingham: implications for health service provision and practice event

26th June 2008

• Friday 27th June 2008
• 9.00 am – 1.00pm (followed by lunch)
• City Inn, 1 Brunswick Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HW

The event will present two reports that are the result of a project launched in January 2007 looking into Irish people’s views and experiences of mental health services in Birmingham.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham will be attending, along with representatives from various health organizations such as the Department of Health.

The programme for the day is:

9.00 Welcome

09.15 Press Photography

09.30 Welcome – Bridie Nugent (Irish Welfare & Information Centre)

09.40 Open – Lord Mayor

09.45 Report 1 – Paula McGee ( Birmingham City University), Claire Baxter and

Bernadette Lynch (Irish service users)

10.30 Refreshment break

11.00 Report 2 – Alia Syed ( University of Central Lancashire), Tony Merry (Midland Heart), Mike Rochfort & Ranjit Senghera (Care Services Improvement Partnership ( West Mids))

11.45 Response to the reports – Mary Tilki (Federation of Irish Societies)

12.00 Response to the reports – Cherry Dale (South B’ham Primary Care Trust)

12.15 Response to the reports – Ranjit Senghera (CSIP West Midlands)

12.30 Message from Liam Byrne MP – Conor McGinn (FIS)

12.40 Overview/close – Bridie Nugent (IWIC)

13.00 Lunch

The research has been carried out to gain an understanding of the Irish communities to promote inclusion and equality and provide outreach to those in need.

The first report, Irish Mental Health in Birmingham: What is appropriate and culturally-competent primary care?, has covered a wide spectrum of Irish mental health in general. It has been a partnership project between Birmingham City University’s Centre for Community Mental Health and the Birmingham Irish Welfare and Information Centre, the Federation of Irish Societies (FIS), Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy (ICAP), the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust (BSMHT), and Balsall Heath Health Centre.

The second report The Mental Health of Older Irish Adults project has focused on older Irish adults. 

This is a partnership project betweenBirmingham Irish Welfare and Information Centre in partnership with Care Services Improvement Partnership, Immigrant Counselling & Psychotherapy, Midland Heart and the University of Central Lancashire.

It is hoped that the research will influence current mental health service provision by looking at how services are provided and how people access them and how they could be improved to ensure those who are in need feel comfortable and confident in accessing services.  It is hoped it will also encourage wider and more valuable engagement between statutory and voluntary services, with each sector bringing their expertise and knowledge together; to work in partnership to meet the mental health needs of the Irish community.

To find out more about the event, please contact Dawn McCarrick at Birmingham City University Centre for Community Mental Health 0121 331 7151 or email Dawn.McCarrick@bcu.ac.uk

For further information please contact Birmingham City University Media Relations Office on 0121 331 6738, email press@bcu.ac.uk or out of hours on 07967 271 532.

About Birmingham City University.