Rethink Mental Illness conducted a survey on more than 1300 people living with mental illness. 85% of people said that symptoms of their condition cause them stress or anxiety, with many saying their anxiety has prevented them from leaving their home and seeing their friends and family. Many aspects of our lives cause us to feel anxious, e.g. housing, social connections, looking after our physical health etc. For people living with severe mental illness, it can be difficult knowing how and where they can access the right services to support their needs.

With the launch of our ‘Communities that Care’ model , Rethink Mental Illness wants to make it possible for someone with a severe mental illness to be able to fulfil all their universal needs with the right support and services in one place. This helps to avoid having to explain their situation multiple times to various different professionals, which can be emotionally exhausting and requires someone to advocate for themselves. Our Mental Health Navigation programme has been proven to help reduce pressure on primary care services such as GPs. A navigator’s role is to provide practical support so that a person can access services to help them meet their non-clinical needs.