Community-led mental health groups facing increased demand and reduced funding
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 3rd September
Community groups focused on metal health say they're supporting people with increasingly complex issues who aren't receiving the support they need elsewhere.
In interviews with CHEX, these organisations set out the challenges they're facing as they attempt to 'plug the gaps' left by mainstream mental health services.
In the communities they work with, groups are having to provide intensive support for complex needs. Supporting people in crisis means organisations have less capacity to provide preventative approaches that can be so effective.
“So instead of doing early intervention, quick work, shorter, more regular sessions or group work, you're ending up spending a lot more time doing intensive one to one," one respondent told CHEX.
On top of having to provide this much-needed support, community organisations are facing increased challenges when it comes to funding and sustainability, with some forced to close, others facing funding reductions, or a lack of inflationary uplifts.
One community-led health organisation manager said: “Our funding was at standstill, so it's the same as last year when there's a 20% increase in everything else."
Read: ‘Feeling the Strain: How community-led health groups are facing Scotland's mental health crisis’
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