Reflections on our recent Members Forum
The team at CORC are still buzzing from a great Members’ Forum on 5th April and were glad to take part in such an energetic day with colleagues from the mental health sector. The agenda was packed with presentations from innovative services from the UK and Norway, all seeking ways to make better use of outcome measurement to evaluate mental health and wellbeing support. It was encouraging for all to hear about the different ways mental health services and staff are engaging with CORC, including services that are making good use of reports, resources and shared learning from across the consortium.
The highlights
There were many highlights from the day. Firstly, we were able to celebrate with Bromley Y and YPAS Liverpool, who have just been awarded CORC Accreditation. Both services were keen to share their experience using the CORC Best Practice Framework tool with others, and we learnt a great deal about the challenges faced at different stages of the journey.
We were also pleased to welcome back Kathryn Pugh, who provided an update from NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health programme. It was an inspiration for clinicians working on the ground to hear from a NHS England representative, and the presentation highlighted the importance of co-production and working collaboratively to ensure the best support for children, young people, their families and staff across the service.
Food for thought
At CORC we had an important insight into a potential barrier to the use of outcome measurement: language. The use of technical language and jargon within the mental health sector can alienate both clinicians and the young people we are trying to support. With the help of our guest for the day, the Mental Elf, and an online Twitter poll, we started thinking about a different way of talking about ‘outcome measures'. There were a number of suggestions from colleagues both in the room and on Twitter, with the favoured term on the day being ‘progress indicator’. This is very much a live debate, and one we hope to continue as part of a wider discussion about how we talk more openly about the language around ‘outcomes’ and what we might mean by ‘recovery’ or getting better.
How can I find out more about the event?
There are a number of ways to catch up with the day. We had lively interaction with followers on Twitter – search #CORCforum for conversation updates – and the presentations from each of our speakers are available here. Make sure you check out our photos from the day and do get in touch if we can provide you any further info on CORC, our members and work to support services working with children and young people’s mental health.
Many thanks to our presenters Kate Dalzell, Ben Ritchie, Birgit Valla, Jane Mischenko, Sally Marriott, Arynana Shirazi, Nicola Vince, Nicky Martin, Claire Ely, Alison Ford, Kathryn Pugh, Rachel Bryant-Waugh and Lee Atkins, and Miranda Wolpert for facilitating the day. Also a huge thanks to Andre Tomlin, from Mental Elf, and his social media support to take the event Beyond the Room! It was great to have so many different voices take part on the day and we are looking forward to following up with the many interesting discussions.