NHS Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire County Council Adult Learning Service and Changing Minds
Learn2b is a partnership between NHS Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire County Council Adult learning Service. It brings together health and education departments to research the clinical benefits of adult learning as a non-medical intervention and to establish the cost benefits.
We offer courses for people experiencing anxiety and depression, organised into three themes:
- Wellbeing (cognitive behavioural therapy, stress management, confidence building)
- Creative expression (creative writing, painting and drawing)
- Healthy living (food and mood, tai chi and complementary therapies).
We provide a joined up, holistic, person-centered and community-based mental health and wellbeing approach for patients. We also work with GPs to raise awareness of the range of local strategies and community resources available to support their patients’ recovery.
Service users have been engaged throughout the project – over 300 have signed up to participate in the research.
The project has reduced participants’ anxiety and depression scores by 25% and encourages the take up of Adult Learning to prevent relapse. Research has shown that the reductions are maintained over 12 months at a cost of £36 per intervention.
The impact of Learn2b has been so significant that the partnership has now developed a wellbeing course to help prevent people at risk of slipping into mental distress from doing so. This is targeted at patients recovering from long term or life changing illnesses and people experiencing life changing events such as bereavement, redundancy or divorce for example.
After starting out as a three year programme, Learn2b has now been mainstreamed into adult learning provision.
Contact Details:Sonya Terry, project manager on 01604 893459 / 893451 or sonya.terry@northants.nhs.uk
