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Through chairing a panel session , Anna Whitton , Addaction ’ s executive director of services , wanted to look more closely at why the system wasn ’ t working for everyone . ‘ A young person said to me , “ I have nothing to offer the system and the system has nothing to offer me ”, she said . ‘ It made me think , how do we empower people ? How do we integrate and co-design services for the most vulnerable in society ? What is it that ’ s not working ?’
‘ The system is very much broken , as we ’ re missing multiple opportunities to intervene ,’ said Isabelle Goldie , director of the Mental Health Foundation . This was the case from perinatal services , to teachers missing chances to intervene in class , to
‘ People ’ s lives aren ’ t straight - forward . People don ’ t work in silos , but systems often do .’
adulthood , where one in three GP appointments related to mental health problems . ‘ Instead of demonising people , we need to ask what ’ s gone wrong ,’ she said .
‘ There ’ s not enough research about what would make a difference .’
‘ People ’ s lives aren ’ t straightforward ,’ said Paul Farmer , CEO of Mind . ‘ People don ’ t work in silos , but systems often do . Most people don ’ t “ just ” have a mental health problem .’
Campaigns such as Time to Change ( www . time-to-change . org . uk ) gave people a chance to talk about their experiences with mental health and could be a ‘ real powerhouse ’ in shifting the narrative , he said .
This narrative also needed to acknowledge the differences between treating women and men , said Katharine Sacks-Jones , director of Agenda , the alliance for women and girls at risk .
‘ Women don ’ t really feature in the conversation about substance misuse and can find that services are designed as default services for men ,’ she said . ‘ They are a minority in services and often policymakers aren ’ t thinking about them . But we need to treat them as individuals , and need to understand what shapes their lives … women are sick of telling their story again and again . We need to design services so they don ’ t have to .’ Sunny Dhadley , director of the Recovery Foundation , brought the essential service user perspective – from both personal and professional experiences . ‘ The criminal justice system is seen as a necessary intervention , but this has to change ,’ he said . Service users had an ‘ absolutely crucial ’ role in shaping the system , but he was concerned about shrinking budgets , and the parts of services that could be ‘ left to one side ’, as well as the detrimental effect on the previously ‘ massive service user involvement in the drug and alcohol field ’.
Bringing the first day ’ s programme to a close , was ‘ A walk through Addaction ’, where the conference was turned into ‘ conversation café ’ and the round tables in the hall were themed by 16 different projects from all over the country . Delegates ‘ speed-dated ’ their way around the tables and had the opportunity to discuss projects with presenters , taking up David Badcock ’ s initial invitation to ‘ learn , share and connect ’.
Among the final day ’ s diverse presentations , the theme of service user involvement was resumed by Stephen Molloy , director of the International Network of People who Use Drugs ( INPUD ).
‘ We need to invite and involve people who use drugs into services ,’ he told the conference . ‘ It ’ s got to be meaningful engagement of people who use drugs – and not about when they ’ re two years clean , but about where they ’ re at .’
Key to this was developing community advisory boards , just as there were for many other medical conditions .
‘ People who use drugs don ’ t have that voice anymore in the UK ,’ he said . ‘ We used to have it , but those organisations don ’ t exist anymore . We have to see drug user activism and whether you ’ re a drug user or not , you have to be part of that community .
‘ We ’ ve become the deserving versus the undeserving and drug-related deaths are rocketing … If we don ’ t challenge , governments will carry on doing what they ’ re doing .’ In the closing session , Welsh rugby legend Scott Quinnell brought together the themes and turned them into a rallying cry .
‘ It doesn ’ t matter what you struggle with ,’ he said , talking about the dyslexia that gave him the impression he was ‘ thick , stupid and lazy ’ in school . ‘ When you ’ re told by people you trust , that ’ s what you become ’, with a disastrous effect on self-esteem .
‘ So tell people “ you can do anything you want in life . Believe in yourself ”,’ he said . He had turned around his prospects because he had asked for help – ‘ but more importantly , someone asked him ‘ how can I help you ?’
And that is why you ’ re so important ,’ he told delegates . ‘ Put a smile on their face – help them . You are the people making a difference .’ DDN www . drinkanddrugsnews . com December 2016 | drinkanddrugsnews | 13