Under the Mental Health Protection Programme of the district of Kielce for 2018-2022, the number of people receiving psychiatric care in 2015 was 9 885, and 11 185 in 2016. Discussions with heads of social welfare facilities reveal that many people exhibiting mental health disorders do not admit it. This group is still clearly stigmatised, particularly in rural areas. This was shown by a survey we conducted in 2020.
This project aims to improve the individual standing and self-determination of twenty people aged over eighteen who are experiencing mental crisis, and to combat the stigma surrounding this group in the Świętokrzyskie voivodeship.
We will give training to people with experience of mental crisis to be self-advocates in a two-year training course comprising workshops (self-knowledge, knowing one’s rights, communication and leadership skills), integration meetings, sharing know-how, and advocacy activities overseen by coaches. Participants will be given individual support from specialists: psychological counselling, legal advice, and advice on public speaking and image-building. We will organise Recovery Assistant training. We will ensure that a support network is formed by organising an educational excursion for people in crisis and those close to them. Ten crisis teams (providing help quickly at an early stage of a crisis) and a coalition for mental health will be formed, to draw up a recommendation on local policy for aiding people in crisis.
In the project, a model system will be implemented for assisting people in mental crisis: emergency help will be provided for ten people and ten people will improve their competences, of whom five will begin self-advocacy activities.
Ten people who have experienced a mental health crisis, ten people in crisis remission, and ten people close to them, will participate.