The Institute of Health Visiting is delighted to join Parent Infant Partnership (PIP) UK and the UK’s most prominent parenting and children’s organisations in the launch of the UK’s first national Infant Mental Health Awareness Week – from 6-10 June 2016.

A new campaign ‘Building Babies Minds’ is launched this week which seeks to highlight the importance of laying the foundation of the mind for good mental health in infancy.

Events will be taking place across the country to raise awareness of Infant Mental Health and its relevance to life chances for every child. As a society we can and should do much more to support parents in their all-important job of getting their babies started on the path to good mental health, which begins for everyone in infancy.

From birth to age 18 months, it has been calculated that connections in the brain are created at around a rate of a million per second. The earliest experiences shape a baby’s brain development, and have a significant impact on that baby’s mental and emotional health.

Clair Rees, Executive Director, Parent Infant Partnership (PIP) UK stated:

“Good mental health begins in early childhood. When a baby has the opportunity to form a secure bond with their parent or caregiver, this can support their potential and ability to form healthy relationships throughout life”.

 

Dr Cheryll Adams, Executive Director, Institute of Health Visiting commented:

“It is the mental health of infants that assures the mental, social and physical health of our society. There can therefore be no better public health investment. By directing more professional time to supporting all new parents during the critical early years the benefits, both fiscal and to the health of our society, would be felt by all.”

Primary sponsors of the week include Public Health England, the Royal College of Midwives, the Institute of Health Visiting, Community Practitioners and Health Visitors’ Association, the Association for Infant Mental Health and Zero to Three.

Read PIP UK’s full press release

Our next #iHVForum takes place 7-8pm on Monday  6 June on the topic of Infant Mental Health in support of the inaugural Infant Mental Health Awareness Week (6-10 June).

Please do join us for a special twitter chat on Infant Mental Health and the health visitor contribution to this important subject which lays the foundation for future relationships.

So just before 7pm on Monday June, grab a cuppa and then settle down to follow and join in the conversation on Twitter by following everything on #iHVForum and #IMHAW16.

See you there!

The iHV is the major partner in this inaugural Infant Mental Health week with PIP UK, and we need all of you to think about your own local profile-raising activities.

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Some great posters are available to help you, but you really need to engage with the wider public through the press as well as with your families. There are some useful resources to be found on the IMH week website.

iHV will be hosting a Twitterchat between 7-8pm on Monday 6 June – please do join us using the hastags #IMHAW16 and #iHVForum.

Please share your local activities with us (please send to [email protected]) – we can help promote them through our social media channels and also get them onto the IMHAW calendar of events on the IMHAW website.

We’ve already had some great info sent through which we have shared with the IMHAW organisers – so please keep letting us know what you’re doing.

We hope that you have got your local newspapers lined up to help share the message on your local activities – and please do let your local commissioners know what you are doing, involve them, great profile raising for health visiting.

The Institute of Health Visiting is delighted to be supporting PIP UK (Parent Infant Partnership  UK) in its first ever Infant Mental Health Awards 2016 – and nominations are open until 16 May 2016.

Dr Cheryll Adams, executive director of the iHV, said:

“I would expect health visitors to be picking up at least one of these awards and I hope that our infant mental health champions will consider applying.”

The Infant Mental Health Awards are a key part of the Inaugural Infant Mental Health Week taking place 6-10 June.  The awards will be presented by a panel of high profile guests during  the ‘Investing in Early Potential’ conference taking place on 9 June in Central Hall Westminster.  Official Primary Partners for this week are; Public Health England (PHE), Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), CPHVA, and the Association of Infant Mental Health (AIMH).

 Nominations must be received by midnight 16 May 2016.

The six categories for the Awards are:

  1. Andrea Leadsom Award for Outstanding contribution to the field of Infant Mental Health: For an exceptional, and inspirational individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of Infant Mental Health nationally.
  2. Analeaf Award for Infant Mental Health Services: For an exceptional Infant Mental Health service provider, who has demonstrated positive practice, and has improved outcomes for both children and their families.
  3. Infant Mental Health Practitioner: For an exceptional Infant Mental Health practitioner who is innovative in his/her approach to the field of Infant Mental Health, and who continually delivers above, and beyond, what is expected.
  4. Locality Award for Infant Mental Health Inclusion: For a Locality / or Trust that has developed an integrated and inclusive Infant Mental Health service to improve the lives of vulnerable infants, toddlers, and their families.
  5. Infant Mental Health Researcher: For an individual researcher who has made a unique contribution to the growing body of knowledge through their research in the field of Infant Mental Health.
  6. People’s Choice Award: Nominations for this award will be made by an individual who has received support and / or treatment from an Infant Mental Health service provider they believe to be of exceptional quality, resulting in a positive experience and improved wellbeing for their baby, toddler and/or family.

Nominations close at midnight on 16 May 2016. Nominations will not be received after this date in order to ensure a fair process and will be facilitated by a selection panel.

You must ensure upon applying for these awards that you are able to attend the awards ceremony at the Investing in Early Potential conference in Westminster on Thursday 9 June.

 

The Institute of Health Visiting is delighted to be supporting PIP UK (Parent Infant Partnership  UK) in its first ever Infant Mental Health Awards 2016 – and nominations are now open.

The Infant Mental Health Awards are a key part of the Inaugural Infant Mental Health Week taking place 6-10 June.  The awards will be presented by a panel of high profile guests during  the ‘Investing in Early Potential’ conference taking place on 9 June in Central Hall Westminster.  Official Primary Partners for this week are; Public Health England (PHE), Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), CPHVA, and the Association of Infant Mental Health (AIMH).

The categories for the Awards are:

  1. Andrea Leadsom Award for Outstanding contribution to the field of Infant Mental Health: For an exceptional, and inspirational individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of Infant Mental Health nationally.
  2. Analeaf Award for Infant Mental Health Services: For an exceptional Infant Mental Health service provider, who has demonstrated positive practice, and has improved outcomes for both children and their families.
  3. Infant Mental Health Practitioner: For an exceptional Infant Mental Health practitioner who is innovative in his/her approach to the field of Infant Mental Health, and who continually delivers above, and beyond, what is expected.
  4. Locality Award for Infant Mental Health Inclusion: For a Locality / or Trust that has developed an integrated and inclusive Infant Mental Health service to improve the lives of vulnerable infants, toddlers, and their families.
  5. Infant Mental Health Researcher: For an individual researcher who has made a unique contribution to the growing body of knowledge through their research in the field of Infant Mental Health.
  6. People’s Choice Award: Nominations for this award will be made by an individual who has received support and / or treatment from an Infant Mental Health service provider they believe to be of exceptional quality, resulting in a positive experience and improved wellbeing for their baby, toddler and/or family.

Nominations close at midnight on 16 May 2016. Nominations will not be received after this date in order to ensure a fair process and will be facilitated by a selection panel.

You must ensure upon applying for these awards that you are able to attend the awards ceremony at the Investing in Early Potential conference in Westminster on Thursday 9 June.

 

Following the announcement that NHS England will invest an extra billion pounds a year to tackle mental illness, the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is urging the government to specifically invest more into the first two years of life – arguing that this would reduce later expenditure on mental illness and its consequences.

The Mental Health Taskforce report, published on 15 February, reported that one in four people will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime and the cost of mental ill-health to the economy, NHS and society is £105 billion a year.

A strong research base demonstrates that the foundation for later emotional wellbeing starts when babies are still in the womb, and is established in the early months of life. Positive infant mental health (IMH) lays the foundation for mental wellbeing in a baby’s early years and ensures better social and emotional health in later life.

Dr Cheryll Adams, Executive Director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said: “Recent iHV surveys into infant mental health show that over eighty per cent of health visitors use their antenatal visit to talk to parents about infant mental health. However, post-birth, they do not have sufficient contact with mothers in order to give adequate ongoing support. Over 50% of health visitors believe that the mothers they visit should be talking to their babies more, as this helps develop the babies sense of security and belonging – an early sign of mental health.

“Helping parents to understand how to interact with their babies, from day one, helps all children to have the best start in life and, in many cases, helps to prevent later mental health issues from developing. New local authority commissioners must ensure that all health visitors have the training, capacity and support to provide sufficient advice to all new parents.”

iHV stock photography from Croydon area. Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com

iHV stock photography from Croydon area. Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com

The Institute of Health Visiting is supporting PIP UK (Parent Infant Partnership  UK) in its Inaugural Infant Mental Health Week taking place 6-10 June including a Conference on 9 June.

PIP UK provides the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Early Years which published the 1001 Critical Days Manifesto and the Great Britain’s report.  This will be an exciting opportunity to raise the profile of infant mental health and increase public awareness of its importance.

Dr Cheryll Adams said: “Do think of ways your team can get involved locally.”

iHV stock photography from Croydon area. Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com

iHV stock photography from Croydon area. Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com

Monday (18 January)  saw the launch of the new framework for specialist health visitors in perinatal and infant mental health – we just need to get them funded everywhere now.

We know some of you already hold these posts but its lovely to have a national endorsement about how important they are.

The Framework is not available yet but it’s coming soon from HEE!

New Framework - Specialist Health Visitors in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health - What they do and why they matter

New Framework – Specialist Health Visitors in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health – What they do and why they matter

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The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) welcomes the cross-party manifesto that highlights the importance of acting early to enhance the outcomes for children. The relaunch of the 1001 Critical Days Manifesto, on Monday 14 December, brings the importance of early years care for children to the forefront of politics ahead of a debate in the House of Commons on Thursday.

The relaunch of this key policy commitment is to achieve better perinatal mental health and stronger attachment between babies and their parents right from the start. The ‘1001 Critical Days Manifesto’ was originally launched in the last Parliament to persuade all political parties to incorporate these measures into their election manifestos.

Dr Cheryll Adams, Director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said: “The Institute of Health Visiting is delighted to endorse the 1001 Critical Days Manifesto. As far as health visitors are concerned, the 1001 Critical Days Manifesto may yet prove to be one of the most important developments of the new millennium. It has created a long overdue focus on the essential first days of life when the blue print for an individual’s future health and wellbeing is laid down. Hence, this period also determines the future health of our society. If we are to manage many of society’s physical, social and emotional health challenges efficiently and effectively, health visitors know that we must start in the first 1001 critical days of life. The fact that government now knows that too will drive health improvements in our society.”

Relaunch of 1001 Critical Days Manifesto

Relaunch of 1001 Critical Days Manifesto

Relaunch of 1001 Critical Days

Relaunch of 1001 Critical Days