Following funding from Broadhurst, a local charity in Rushmoor, our North East Hampshire Community Mental Health Recovery Service and Early Intervention in Psychosis team worked in partnership with media studies students at Farnborough College of Technology and the Nepalese Community, Naya Yuva, to create videos on mental health for the Nepalese community. Volunteers from Naya Yuva were used as actors to portray people with depression and psychosis.
Our Nepalese strategy aims to address parity as there is very little nationally for this population in relation to mental health. These videos are the start of opening a dialogue, especially with young adults, to encourage increased openness about mental health and challenge the taboo and stigma toward mental health that is common within this community. By raising awareness of mental health we hope to ensure people know where they can seek support.
The videos are used as psychoeducation to prevent a deterioration of mental health, improve access to talking therapies, and address the gap in knowledge about what mental health services are available among non-English speakers.
We employ a Nepalese support worker whose role includes engaging with the local community and we are looking at how we can improve access to talking therapies for this group.