Mental health needs assessments

SPH completed mental health needs assessments focusing variously on children and young people, working age adults and older people for a number of local authority customers. The aims of these needs assessments included identifying the prevalence of risk and protective factors for mental wellbeing, quantifying proxy measures for the burden of mental illness and benchmarking these against regional and national averages. Current service provision across the statutory and voluntary sectors was described and service providers, wider stakeholders and service users and carers participated though workshops, interviews and focus groups. Accompanying literature reviews considered prevention and early intervention for mental health conditions. The reports identified gaps and issues to inform future commissioning plans.