Empowering Communities Programme

#WolvesWellbeingandMe

The #WolvesWellbeingandMe programme of work utilised Better Mental Health Funding to provide a unique opportunity to collate a population view of mental health and wellbeing, evidence of those likely to have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic locally, and to co-create and evaluate projects supporting communities to tell their unique experience of the pandemic and its impact upon their mental health and wellbeing.

#WolvesWellbeingandMe Survey

The #WolvesWellbeingandMe survey of personal wellbeing was completed between 22 March 2022 and 20 May 2022, with the aim of finding out more about the things people in our city have found challenging during the pandemic and the good things that people have found important in helping them stay well.

Over 1400 responses were received from adults aged 16+ in the city, of which there were 996 complete responses available for analysis.

Key findings of the survey

Key aspects of what people felt ‘being mentally well’ meant for them included feeling emotionally balanced, resilient, and able to bounce back, or cope with life challenges. Feeling optimistic about the future, having good social connections and being able to access support when needed were also features of responses.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated protective restrictions were reported as negatively affecting the health, lifestyles, education, finances, employment and relationships of many people.

In response to the question of ‘what would support wellbeing’ within the city moving forward; being able to get out and do more things was the most frequent choice among respondents, along with having time for oneself, more money and someone to talk to. Better physical and mental healthcare support and better working environments also featured as factors likely to positively impact on future wellbeing.

Evidence Review

The evidence review helped identify population sub-groups who experienced mental health inequalities prior to COVID-19, alongside sub-groups for whom COVID-19 significantly increased their risk of poor mental health across the life course. The nine groups selected to be engaged in co-creation activities were:

Children
Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their parents/carers
Young, unemployed people
Refugees and migrants
Ethnic minorities
Women
Critical workers
Older people with long-term physical health conditions or disabilities
Older people with a pre-existing mental health condition.

Co-creation activities

A series of structured co-creation engagement activities empowered representatives of these nine community groups with the skills, knowledge and confidence to collect stories about their members’ unique experiences of the pandemic. Artwork and other visual mediums revealed the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental wellbeing, but also what has/will help people be well and how can they secure more of these capacity building resources in the future.

A total of 141 people took part in the co-creation activities over several weeks, which resulted in significant improvements in the mental wellbeing of project participants.