Text campaign launched to help veterans overcome mental health barriers

A campaign to gather feedback that will help shape mental health services for military veterans has been launched in Greater Manchester.

Anyone interested in the health and wellbeing of ex-service personnel has the chance to contribute to research that will be used to develop services, simply by replying to a series of text messages.

The campaign, which will run as a pilot, has been launched by Overcoming Barriers – a partnership scheme between Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Inspiration NW, Veterans in Communities and Walking With the Wounded, that works to develop various projects to help Greater Manchester veterans overcome barriers to accessing mental health services.

Janet Butterworth, Director of Inspiration NW, explained: “We know that some of the best insight and ideas come from people who may not usually put themselves forward to contribute in other ways. Using text messages to gather feedback is quick, easy, anonymous and low cost or cost-free for most people.

“This campaign will help us reach a large volume and wide range of people. There are no geographical boundaries and anyone with an interest can get involved. By asking people for just the first part of their postcode we’ll be able to understand how views may differ across the various parts of Greater Manchester. We’re particularly hoping to hear from ex-service personnel, reservists, family and friends of veterans, and any professionals who come into contact with veterans who may be having difficulties, such as health staff, social services, charities of all kinds, and criminal justice staff, for example.”

People can ‘opt in’ to the campaign by texting ‘in’ to 60013. They will then be sent two initial messages to respond to. Over the period of the pilot those who have opted in will receive a number of contacts asking for feedback on what barriers veterans may face in accessing mental health services and how these could be overcome.

There will be no cost for receiving the texts, and replies will be charged at the same rate as a standard text message.

Dr Alan Barrett, Clinical Lead for the Military Veterans’ Service, a specialist mental health service provided by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “At the Military Veterans’ Service, we know there are veterans who could benefit from support but choose not to access services – we very much want to understand if there are things services could do better to reach these people.

“Through the text campaign we’re hoping to access the views of those people who rarely come forward in other ways. This is just one of the projects we’ll be looking at as part of the Overcoming Barriers partnership and we’re looking forward to seeing some positive outcomes.”

To take part in the research, opt in by texting ‘in’ to 60013.