Aberdeenshire leading the way in new recovery model in Scotland

30th August 2017

Earlier this year Aberdeenshire Council commissioned a new service for people with mental health problems. Eight months later the service is catching the eye across Scotland with its bold and ambitious approach to improve the lives of people with mental health problems.

Today (Wednesday 30 August) a report to Aberdeenshire Integration Joint Board by Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership highlights the positive progress and performance in delivery of My Life Dynamic in its first six months.

SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) was appointed to provide My Life Dynamic in Aberdeenshire at the beginning of 2017. The service was designed to support people living with mental health problems towards recovery and engagement in their wider community.

The service focuses on integration and recovery and in its first six months has actively engaged with 144 people via structured referrals, as well as individuals presenting in crisis.

My Life Dynamic comprises of six elements which people can access based on their needs and what would be most helpful to them in building their self-resilience and achieving their recovery goals.

By the end of the second quarter, 18 people had successfully moved on from the service as they had met the goals they set to achieve.

With community bases in Peterhead, Inverurie and Laurencekirk activities are now being delivered across north, central and south Aberdeenshire.

Billy Watson, Chief Executive for SAMH said:

“It is very encouraging to see that My Life Dynamic is up and running across Aberdeenshire supporting so many people with their mental health.

“The key focus of this service is on recovery and enablement so people no longer become dependent on services.

“Aberdeenshire is leading the way in delivering this new model for people with mental health problems, and we hope to see more areas replicate this.”

Chair of Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s Integration Joint Board, Cllr Anne Stirling said:

 “My Life Dynamic is a more personalised service,  which is more recovery focused, better linked to employability, accessible 7 days per week and available across Aberdeenshire. It also includes people who live with autism for the first time and promotes community inclusion. The new model includes enhanced mechanisms for service user feedback, through group advocacy.

 "We continue to monitor and work with SAMH to ensure the proper outcomes for residents are achieved. We would encourage anyone who requires support to contact SAMH, or to contact our Community Mental Health Team and we will offer an assessment of needs.”