Marking Time to Talk Day 2022, the Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – has continued her work to push for clarity on how social support groups for the elderly and vulnerable are being supported, so as to resume face to face meetings in community settings.
In a Written Question to the Minister for Health, Janet asked:
“Will the Minister provide an update on the work of the task and finish group that was established in March 2021 to review the issue of social prescribing, as it pertains to their findings on the need to retain and support community assets?
More than half of Welsh adults and three quarters of young people said that their mental health had generally worsened during the early months of the pandemic. Concerningly, loneliness has also more than doubled from 10% in March 2020, to 26% just a year later.
Time to Talk Day 2022 is run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness in England, in partnership with Co-op. The campaign runs UK wide. The day is all about creating supportive communities by having conversations with family, friends, or colleagues about mental health. The campaign was launched in 2014 by Time to Change, a campaign to end mental health stigma and discrimination.
Supporting the campaign, Janet said:
“As I have made clear on countless occasions in the Senedd, loneliness among our older and vulnerable populations has sadly spiralled during the pandemic and could leave a lasting impact that compounds the pressure on already over stretched services. With this in mind, I’m pleased to be supporting Time to Talk Day which encourages crucial community conversations and engagement.
“I fully endorse the use of community hubs and voluntary sector networks to increase mental wellbeing, as well as ensuring that communities are able to reach out when members are lonely and anxious. It is vital that the new Welsh mental health strategy, due this year, must include the importance of community assets and networks to support a post-COVID society.
“The pandemic, along with its restrictions, have worked to expose the importance of improving mental health and wellbeing services across Wales, as well as the importance of creating supportive communities. My hope is that this Time to Talk Day will work to focus minds of Ministers in Cardiff Bay.”
Social prescribing has been included in the Welsh Government's list of priorities for the next five years. Social prescribing creates a formal way for primary care services such as GPs to refer patients to a variety of non-clinical services.
ENDS
Photo: Janet Finch-Saunders MS/AS marking Time to Talk Day 2022
