NHS Highland publishes report by director of public health Dr Tim Allison – greater focus is required on improving mental health and wellbeing and reducing suicide rates across the Highlands
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A greater focus is required on improving mental health and wellbeing and reducing suicide rates across the region, according to a report by NHS Highland’s director of public health.
In his second annual report to the NHS Highland Board Dr Tim Allison has highlighted that there is a consistently higher rate of deaths by suicide in the NHS Highland area than the Scottish average.
And Dr Allison believes that a public health approach to reduce deaths by suicide and improving mental health and wellbeing is important, and widely regarded as the best way to achieve sustained reductions in suicide rates.
Dr Allison said: “The consequences of suicide are enormous for the community and for individuals and families affected by suicide across Highland, Argyll and Bute. The research for this report has shown that the suicide rate in our board area is higher than the Scottish average.
“More work is required to understand why this is the case, and we must plan and develop our work to reduce the number of deaths from suicide within a broader mental health context that will inform local plans and strategies.
“A public health approach helps us to understand risk factors and how we can work to reduce deaths from suicide and improve support for those in crisis as well as those bereaved by suicide.
“There are a number of fantastic initiatives that focus on prevention and early intervention as well as providing practical support for individuals and their families. This work is essential in tackling this issue and support for this work must be a priority.”
The report addresses a number of issues relating to suicide, including mental health and illness, background influences such as adversity in childhood, poverty, and what is being done to improve mental health and reduce suicide rates across NHS Highland.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health is also discussed within the report.
While Dr Allison reflects that the effects of the virus on mental health are different across various sectors of society, more work is needed on how it has affected specific groups.
“The pandemic has affected people’s mental health and wellbeing in different ways and at different times over the last two years,” Dr Allison said. “The health inequalities that existed prior to Covid-19 have been exacerbated and greater work is required at both local and national level to ensure we address these issues.
“I hope that the issues highlighted in this report helps to refocus our attention on the importance of improving the mental health and wellbeing of our communities and the need to develop a public health approach to suicide prevention.”
