WaMH in PC's blog

Our parent organisation is launching its first international appeal in a bid to put family medicine at the heart of global health.

As part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has joined forces with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) to create 60 for 60.

Based on realising the goal of creating a ‘world where family medicine excellence is at the heart of healthcare’, the appeal aims to raise £60,000 to fund work in Africa's developing nations.

This is equivalent to just £1.30 from each of the RCGP’s 46,000 members and would make it possible to start the project which aims to establish a legacy to empower local health workers in sub-saharan countries to deliver and teach effective primary care in their own communities.

Specifically, 60 for 60 aims to improve maternal and child health mortality rates through the provision of sustainable, community-based health promotion and training -  with programmes run by embedded GPs - starting in Sierra Leone.

The ambition isSierra Leone is a country recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war and which has some of the worst health indicators in the world.

To make a small donation (of £10 or under), text RCGP60 and the amount £1, £2, £3, £5 or £10 (for example RCGP60 £10) to 70070 or make a donation via the 60 for 60 Just Giving page.

WaMH in PC has an interest in the College as we were established by its Welsh branch back in 2003 to act as a special interest working group to promote primary mental health care and improve mental health services across Wales.

We are offering health practitioners a unique opportunity to meet with key professionals and develop best practice in primary care mental health with 2 free events during the month of May.

Each event will help health boards to benchmark how they are progressing in developing services under Part 1 of the Measure, to share best practice and use a panel of experienced professionals from across Wales to assist managers and staff to develop innovative solutions to problems that have been encountered.

Our "Getting the Measure Right!" interactive, half-day events support the implementation of Part 1 of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure and are aimed at:

• Managers
• Team Leaders
• Primary Care Mental Health Support Staff at all levels
• Policy Makers
• GPs
• Health Boards
• Local Authorities
• Third Sector

We would encourage boards to send staff from all levels to ensure the learning reflects the reality of how their services run and are also looking to benefit from the experience of practice-based staff, team leaders and managers.

The first event is due to take place on 2nd May 2013 at Technium OpTIC in St Asaph followed a week later by a second event on 9th May 2013 at the Richard Ley Development Centre in Swansea.

Each day will involve an intense and practical meeting with concrete and effective outputs which will make a difference to both staff and patients and places are limited so please book early.

To register please complete our Getting The Measure Right Registration Form and return the completed form via email to our Project Manager Lesley Hills at lhills@rcgp.org.uk.

Numbers permitting - you will receive a confirmation email in due course with further details about the programme for each day available on our Getting The Measure Right Flyer.

Download the National Dementia Vision for Wales document

King's College London has found that undertaking this kind of physical activity childhood helps protect the brain from the onset of dementia in your later years.

The College fund that men who undertook physical activity more than four times a week were found to have lost a 33% less of their brainpower by the age of 50 compared with those who did not exercise.

It also found that women benefitted from a 25% reduction and even those who exercised just once a week saw their mental decline lessened by 10 per cent.

For further information please read Nick McDermott's Exercising four times a week from childhood 'helps stave off dementia and increases brain power by a third' story on the Daily Mail website.

Much work has taken place in Wales recently to identify the areas that need to be addressed to improve the lives of those with and affected by dementia.

This has led to the creation of the National Dementia Vision for Wales which provides a long-term vision to ensure Wales can best meet the challenge of an increasing number of people living with dementia across the country.

In response to this need we launched a new Dementia section on this website last summer which includes links to a range of support and advice agencies and organisations and practical help such as Free Dementia Training for medical professionals.

If you have any questions about WaMH in PC's work with dementia in Wales please  contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.