Kashmir Youth Project deliver perinatal mental health workshop

Kashmir Youth Project perinatal mental health workshop

A perinatal mental health workshop delivered by Kashmir Youth Project (KYP) was well attended by 60 women from across the Rochdale Borough on Monday 24 April.

The workshop’s aims were to raise awareness of perinatal mental health and identify the issues affecting black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women accessing the service. There was good input from women who discussed issues affecting them, such as community taboos and stigma around mental health. They identified solutions, like professional support at a grass roots level, to improve access to perinatal mental health services for BAME communities.

A range of service providers from Healthy Minds Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Rochdale and District MIND and Living Well Rochdale Health Trainers were on hand to answer questions and provide information.

Kathryn Saunderson, Joint Mental Health Programme Manager, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group delivered a presentation on how to access support locally and shared details of the new Thinking Ahead service which was launched on 2 May.

Councillor Sameena Zaheer said: “It was a fantastic workshop with a great turnout. We need more BAME women to attend such workshops to raise awareness and to learn how to access perinatal mental health services.”

Zulf Ahmed, the CEO of KYP, said: “It is really encouraging that individuals have taken the time and effort to share their experiences for the benefit of improving services for others.”

The workshop was delivered in conjunction with Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks.