Blog Archives - Page 39 of 49

Parity of Esteem for Mental and Physical Health

‘Parity of Esteem’ is essentially: ‘Valuing mental health equally with physical health’. More fully, parity of esteem means that, when compared with physical healthcare, mental healthcare is characterised by: Equal access to the most effective and safest care and treatment Equal efforts to improve the quality of care The allocation of time, effort and resources in proportion to need Equal status within healthcare education and practice Equally high aspirations for service users;

2020-04-17T10:18:19+01:0016th August 2016|Blog, CDS Publications, Data and Statistics, Downloads|

Client feedback from PEP social prescribing service

The Patient Empowerment Project is a social prescribing service commissioned by the West Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group and delivered in partnership between BARCA Leeds, Better Leeds Communities, Mind and Touchstone. The project supports people to take control of their health and wellbeing. Participants are referred by their doctor and are supported to access groups, services and resources in their local community to help them achieve a better life. Following a one

2020-04-17T10:18:25+01:0015th August 2016|Blog, Complex Needs, Feedback, Partnership, Social Prescribing|

The rainbow flag – what it means and where it comes from

As businesses and communities prepare for Leeds Pride this weekend, we can expect to see a plethora of rainbow flags adorning the buildings of Leeds city centre. The flag has been a symbol of LGBT unity and strength for nearly 40 years – so much so, that we rarely think about what they flag’s origins might have been. In 1977, artist Gilbert Baker was asked by gay rights activist Harvey

2020-04-17T10:18:02+01:001st August 2016|Blog, Events, LGBT*|

Connecting Punjabi-speaking families and isolated older people to share an evening meal

Delivered by Touchstone, Raat di Roti matches Punjabi-speaking volunteers with Punjabi-speaking older people to share an evening meal together. Though originally planned as a fortnightly event, some volunteers have enjoyed the activity so much that they have increased their visits to every week. In this short video, a volunteer talks with Project Worker Jesvinder about how she has benefited from the experience. For more information, please contact: jesvindert@touchstonesupport.org.uk (originally published on the Time

2020-04-17T10:17:35+01:0029th July 2016|Blog|

World Hepatitis Day

Photo by Bruce Wetzel, Harry Schaefer, via Wikimedia Commons 28th July is World Hepatitis Day. This year is particularly special as The World Health Organisation will deliver its Global Elimination Strategy for Viral Hepatitis, outlining the goal of eliminating the threat viral hepatitis by 2030. Viral hepatitis is curable. Hepatitis B can be prevented and hepatitis C can be treated. Better still, they can be avoided. Hep. B

2020-04-17T10:17:37+01:0027th July 2016|Blog|

SES on the "orient Express"

Sikh Elders Service manager Chani Batebajwe describes the most recent outing organised for users of the service. SES went out on their annual trip on the 25th June to Whitby via Pickering on a steam train experience. Everyone, all 55 of them, attentively listened to the volunteer guide talking about the history of the railway and the area. At one time I thought I was going to see us riding on

2020-04-17T10:17:29+01:0018th July 2016|Blog, Events, Feedback, Friendship|

Celebrating Eid-al-Fitr

Celebrating Eid-al-Fitr To celebrate Eid our colleague Gul H has written the following piece to explain about the festivities. Eid-al-Fitr is said to have originated when the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) arrived in the city of Medina, he found some people celebrating two explicit days on which they used to entertain themselves with recreation and merriment. When he asked about this, the response was that these days were occasions of

2020-04-17T10:17:22+01:0012th July 2016|Blog|

A big thumbs up from our service users

On an annual basis questionnaires are sent out to service users in order to ascertain their views/opinions about Touchstone and the service they have received. The feedback and views of service users plays a key role in identifying best practice, areas for improvement and informing our approach to delivering quality outcomes and continuous improvement. During early summer questionnaires were sent out to a total of 1498 Service users. The key headline

2020-04-17T10:17:09+01:0012th July 2016|Blog, Data and Statistics, Feedback|

What the numbers say about Touchstone?

Annual Information Report 2015/16 Often service users come up to me describing what great services Touchstone provides. This always brings a big smile to my face. However I also recognise such comments may be subjective in nature. Certainly nothing wrong with this as feedback from service users provides a very useful insight into whether we are providing a quality service. By adding data and intelligence to the mix you will

2020-04-17T10:17:11+01:0011th July 2016|Blog, Data and Statistics, Feedback|

Partnership In Action – Touchstone Community Support Team and Leeds South Community Mental Health Team

Back in March 2016 we welcomed Minja and Zellany, 2 Creative Practitioners from the South Community Mental Health Team temporarily to the Community Support Team. The aim is to create new alliances and partnership working across the CMHT and CST, develop new ways of working to supporting colleagues with caseloads and enable clients in their recovery. They were tasked to identify resources within the locality, strengthen the relationship between NHS

2020-04-17T10:17:03+01:008th July 2016|Blog, News, Partnership|