Unlimited Well-being?

7th - 12th May is Mental Health Awareness Week. Here in Nottingham the World Health Innovation Summit is hosting an all-day event in the Market Square, SHINE. The World Health Innovation Summit is an organisation that promotes local initiatives that galvanise communities into action supporting health-care. The underlying notion is that while the health-care services are over-stretched, there is much that can be done alongside such provision by local communities. You can read about their inspiring work and join their Facebook page here

SHINE will be an opportunity for individuals and organisations working in the Nottingham area to come together to share information and ideas about what is going on across the city to prevent and alleviate mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, depression and isolation. As well as that, it promises to be a great deal of fun with the chance to try out all kinds of activities! You might enjoy a Tai Chi taster or join in a meditation, you might watch a dance or talk to an artist or poet, you might find out about the benefits of reflexology or aroma therapy. There will be stalls, speakers and activities for children. There will be a 'mass meditation' starting at 12.05.

I was recently talking to a very senior consultant physician. When he discovered that I'm training as a psychotherapist, he first of all confessed that all his training, background and instincts were 'firmly in the biological sciences'. Test out therapies and only use those that  can be scientifically and rationally proven. He then went on (uninvited and therefore the more convincing!) to say that, however, he had come to appreciate the 'talking therapies' as he put it. He even went on to cite some studies he had made that showed that they were beneficial in reducing blood pressure in patients with persistent hypertension. He was now increasingly open to careful use of therapies that complement scientifically-based western medicine. 

The great thing about the World Health Innovation Summit movement is that it seeks to do precisely that; to bring alongside standard medical, nursing and social care the resources of other approaches to wholeness and well-being. The World Health Organisation determines health on the basis of social and economic environment, the physical environment and a person's individual characteristics and behaviours. This latter category encompasses genetic, physiological, mental and spiritual factors. WHIS work by
'bringing patients, clinicians, managers, voluntary sector, education and businesses together to exchange knowledge, inspire and innovate together.' Their website states,

'Health touches every sector: Education, Transport, Food and Agriculture, Housing, Waste, Energy, Industry, Urbanization, Water, Radiation, Nutrition (WHO). In order to find solutions we need inspiration and innovation. WHIS is about each and every one of us helping to support our health services. In order to do that we need a platform for people to contribute and meet to share their knowledge and the World Health Innovation Summit (Federation) provides that platform to do this in a consolidated structured process and innovate solutions.'

Read about their purpose here

What impresses me about WHIS is its emphasis on local conversations and initiatives - so if you are in the Nottingham area, please come along and join in on 12th May. And, if not, you can find out what's going on in your area from their website. Click on WHIS Summits in the header.

See you there - I'll be in the group doing Tai Chi!