Manx Care’s Integrated Mental Health Service has organised a second conference in mid-December as part of the team’s plan to establish a multi-agency approach towards mental health and wellbeing, and support the implementation of the Thrive framework on the Isle of Man.
The Thrive Framework is needs-led, and aims to establish an integrated, multi-agency framework on the Isle of Man to support the mental health and wellbeing needs of children, young adults up to the age of 25 and the adults who look after them. The aim is for groups of colleagues from different agencies to work together in partnership to ensure people get the right help at the right time, adhering to the principles of integration, early intervention and recovery.
Since the first – and very successful – Thrive conference was held in June, Manx Care has begun to establish the governance that’s needed to implement Thrive on the Island. This will involve a multi-agency steering group comprising of senior managers from organisations including Manx Care, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Education, Sport and Culture and the Third Sector.
The Thrive conference will take place at the Villa Marina on Wednesday 14 December 2022 from 9.30am to 4.30pm. While the event is free to attendees, booking is required. The event will see three colleagues from the iThrive organisation return to the Island to provide an update on some of the assessment tools they’ve reviewed since their first visit in June, agree strategic priorities for the way forward with key stakeholders, and look at how the local context needs to be applied for the Isle of Man model to be successfully achieved. The iThrive team is responsible for defining and establishing the Thrive Framework across the British Isles.
Manx Care’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) has seen a stark increase in those awaiting assessment or treatment, with an increase of 83% over the past two years. One in ten children and young people on the Island aged between four and 17 years old are either receiving or awaiting treatment from CAMHS – a figure that is higher than comparative figures in the UK. The rise can be attributed in part to the lack of a multi-agency strategy on the Isle of Man for supporting the development of mental health, resilience and emotional wellbeing in children, alongside the absence of early intervention in partnership with other agencies.
Ross Bailey, Manx Care’s General Manager of Integrated Mental Health Services, commented:
“We held our first conference in June and since then a lot of work has been undertaken across multiple agencies to look at how we can successfully implement the Thrive Framework on the Island. Establishing a multi-agency community support network for children and young people suffering with mental health challenges, and the adults who provide care for them, is key to ensuring that we can provide the right intervention at the earliest possible opportunity, and then help them to access the appropriate services and level of support they need.
“Whilst Manx Care’s Integrated Mental Health Service is able to provide appropriate medical and psychological intervention, we know that we will achieve better outcomes for children and young people if all of the agencies on the Isle of Man are working towards, and aligned against, a common set of principles aimed at delivering holistic care and support.
“Our event next week will be a valuable opportunity to learn from the practitioners who developed the Thrive model and be a part of the change we’re looking to effect on the Isle of Man.”
If anyone would like to book a place at the Thrive conference, please contact Sarah Morton (sarah.morton@gov.im) by 6pm on Monday 12 December 2022.