Social Inclusion
“Even now, with welcome new attitudes in society, those suffering from mental distress still find themselves excluded from many aspects of life the rest of us take for granted - from jobs, family support, proper health care and community life.” Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, Mental Health and Social Exclusion (2004)
The national Social Inclusion Programme has been established to implement the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) report on Mental Health and Social Exclusion published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2004). The SEU report describes the high level of exclusion experienced by people with mental health problems and concludes that concerted efforts and new partnerships are required within and beyond mental health services to facilitate far greater community participation and the maintenance and recovery of what individuals value in their lives.
Work is being taken forward at a regional and national level around eight main implementation areas: stigma and discrimination, employment, income and benefits, education, housing, taking part in the community, social networks and direct payments. There are also several pieces of national cross-cutting work on workforce development; community engagement; criminal justice; tackling inequalities; research and evidence.
The Eastern Development Centre also has a national lead on the programme Direct Payments.
The regional Social Inclusion Programme focuses on particular issues for partnership working and service development and represents a set of values which should underpin all health and other services, and therefore all of our regional work programmes.
For information on the National Social Inclusion Programme, see here.
For information on CSIP Eastern’s Social Inclusion Programme, see here.