Connect 5
In 2019, the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership commissioned Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind to administer a train the trainer programme to build a group of trainers, mainly from the VCSE sector. These trainers are now working with their local public sector leads to cascade Connect 5 in their organisations and in communities across Greater Manchester. If you want to be connected with the lead in your borough then please contact Gm.mentalwellbeing@nhs.net
From 2022, the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership has been offering Connect 5 training to the Primary Care Network workforce. This includes those working in general practice, dentistry, optometry and pharmacy as well as a range of aligned professionals including social prescribers, health and care navigators.
About Connect 5
Connect 5 is a mental health promotion training programme designed to increase the confidence and skills of front-line staff so they can be most effective in having conversations with the people they work with about mental health and wellbeing and so help people to manage mental health problems and increase their resilience and mental wellbeing through positive changes. Connect 5:
- Promotes a self-help philosophy, helping people to better understand, manage and improve their mental health, including understanding how environmental factors influence their mental health and wellbeing
- Supports the improving access to psychological therapies programme as it helps build the capacity and capability of the wider workforce to support timely and effective access to specialist help
- Delivers the skills and competencies outlined in the Core Skills for Mental Health Education & Training Framework(2017) for Tier 1 & Tier 2 section of the workforce.
The training has really helped me feel more confident in talking to people about their mental health and wellbeing. The methods and tools we learnt about have made it easier to approach the conversation with the young people I work with. Mentor
How does Connect 5 fit with health and care priorities?
- Builds capacity and capability to support prevention and reduce demand, supporting the Five Year Forward View and now Stepping Forward to 2020/2021, specifically its mental health workforce strategy
- Delivers brief interventions for mental wellbeing as part of Making Every Contact Count (MECC), as agreed in the MECC national consensus statement. Making Every Contact Count Consensus Statement and has the potential to dovetail with MECC for Mental Health training which has been developed.in recent years.
- Promotes a self-care and self-management approach to increase mental health literacy
- Champions people’s health, wellbeing, independence and control, supporting the Care Act and Public Health priorities
- Develop and supports the role of the wider workforce to embed prevention and public health across a broader system in line with the Fit for the Future Public Health strategy and the Public Mental Health Leadership and Workforce Development Framework
I found the training to be very useful and it has equipped me with new skills to be able to open up and expand on conversations regarding mental health and wellbeing. Probation Officer
Please visit our resources page for Connect 5 resources to learn more about Connect 5.