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To: The UK Prime Minister
Make recovery possible for people with mental health conditions
Please promise to:
End Work Capability Assessment
Fund services that meet the need of mental health service users
Support people with mental health conditions in activity they consider meaningful
Create policy that has a positive impact on the lives of people with mental health conditions and does not create stigma and discrimination
End Work Capability Assessment
Fund services that meet the need of mental health service users
Support people with mental health conditions in activity they consider meaningful
Create policy that has a positive impact on the lives of people with mental health conditions and does not create stigma and discrimination
Why is this important?
The WRAG is a group of people with lived experience of mental health conditions. They have experience, past and present, of using mental health services, receiving benefits and working. This manifesto is supported by North East together (NEt), the North East regional network for people with lived experience of mental health conditions.
Work capability assessments are part of a rigid system which relies on the assumption that just because a person can force themselves to carry out tasks, be around people and cope with unexpected events then it means they can and should do that in the workplace. It does not take into account the way that mental health is a fluid, uncertain concept and that a timeline of recovery cannot be predicted in the way that one recovers from a broken leg.
We as human beings progress best when we feel able to go at our own pace and make choices about how we increase activity in a way that is meaningful to us. This is where work capability assessments get it wrong and are counter-productive.
The tough regime and low benefits available on Job Seekers Allowance increase pressure on people with mental health conditions. JSA robs a person of their security as life becomes a constant battle to make appointments, attend meetings and apply for jobs in the fear that if they don't they will be sanctioned and their basic access to food and shelter will be compromised.
This system creates a vicious cycle for us all; we feel disempowered, helpless and disrespected. It breeds anger, anxiety and meaninglessness. It disincentives progress and recovery. The DWP takes the view that the country needs to get back to work, and yet it has rolled out a vicious and unsupportive programme which delays people's recovery and made it harder for people to get back into the workplace.
The DWP clearly has not responded to the evidence of increased mental health difficulties, reliance on food banks and suicide linked to the changes in the welfare system. They would probably claim that the system is working as unemployment has decreased, though how long can an employment boom based on zero hours contracts and self-employment last and it is at the expense of harming a huge number of people who are struggling with their health; who want to help themselves and yet are left feeling distressed and helpless in an unsupportive system that doesn't want to hear the shades of grey in "work capability".
Our Manifesto
What we, people with lived experience of mental health conditions, users of mental health services, carers, families and friends need:
No More Work Capability Assessment
• Create a fairer system: one that treats people with mental health and physical conditions equally.
• Recognise that people cannot recover while living on or below the poverty line.
• Stop sanctioning those affected by mental illness.
Fund Services that Meet Our Need
• Commission services that support wellbeing as well as respond at times of crisis.
• Provide recovery focused services that provide continuity of care across all parts of our lives.
• Encourage, stimulate and invest in services that are user led or co-produced.
• Resource independent support for service users to be involved in the commissioning, design and improvement of the services they use.
• Commit to parity of esteem between physical health and mental health care and make sure people with serious mental illnesses have the same life expectancy as those without.
Support us in Meaningful Activity
• Support us in activities that enable recovery. This could be via therapy, peer support volunteering, education or paid employment or something else.
• Value our contributions to communities in the roles we choose.
• Support to help us into employment should be available for as long as the individual needs it.
Make Mental Health Everybody’s Business
• Everybody has mental health. Promote wellbeing of mind and body.
• Educate children about mental wellbeing in schools from starting school.
• Promote programmes that encourage employers and employees to treat people with mental health conditions with more respect whether they are customers or members of staff.
• Support people with lived experience to lead, deliver and be involved in these initiatives.
• Make Workplaces More Mental Health Friendly by raising awareness of mental health conditions with managers and employees.
Everyone has a place in society
Work capability assessments are part of a rigid system which relies on the assumption that just because a person can force themselves to carry out tasks, be around people and cope with unexpected events then it means they can and should do that in the workplace. It does not take into account the way that mental health is a fluid, uncertain concept and that a timeline of recovery cannot be predicted in the way that one recovers from a broken leg.
We as human beings progress best when we feel able to go at our own pace and make choices about how we increase activity in a way that is meaningful to us. This is where work capability assessments get it wrong and are counter-productive.
The tough regime and low benefits available on Job Seekers Allowance increase pressure on people with mental health conditions. JSA robs a person of their security as life becomes a constant battle to make appointments, attend meetings and apply for jobs in the fear that if they don't they will be sanctioned and their basic access to food and shelter will be compromised.
This system creates a vicious cycle for us all; we feel disempowered, helpless and disrespected. It breeds anger, anxiety and meaninglessness. It disincentives progress and recovery. The DWP takes the view that the country needs to get back to work, and yet it has rolled out a vicious and unsupportive programme which delays people's recovery and made it harder for people to get back into the workplace.
The DWP clearly has not responded to the evidence of increased mental health difficulties, reliance on food banks and suicide linked to the changes in the welfare system. They would probably claim that the system is working as unemployment has decreased, though how long can an employment boom based on zero hours contracts and self-employment last and it is at the expense of harming a huge number of people who are struggling with their health; who want to help themselves and yet are left feeling distressed and helpless in an unsupportive system that doesn't want to hear the shades of grey in "work capability".
Our Manifesto
What we, people with lived experience of mental health conditions, users of mental health services, carers, families and friends need:
No More Work Capability Assessment
• Create a fairer system: one that treats people with mental health and physical conditions equally.
• Recognise that people cannot recover while living on or below the poverty line.
• Stop sanctioning those affected by mental illness.
Fund Services that Meet Our Need
• Commission services that support wellbeing as well as respond at times of crisis.
• Provide recovery focused services that provide continuity of care across all parts of our lives.
• Encourage, stimulate and invest in services that are user led or co-produced.
• Resource independent support for service users to be involved in the commissioning, design and improvement of the services they use.
• Commit to parity of esteem between physical health and mental health care and make sure people with serious mental illnesses have the same life expectancy as those without.
Support us in Meaningful Activity
• Support us in activities that enable recovery. This could be via therapy, peer support volunteering, education or paid employment or something else.
• Value our contributions to communities in the roles we choose.
• Support to help us into employment should be available for as long as the individual needs it.
Make Mental Health Everybody’s Business
• Everybody has mental health. Promote wellbeing of mind and body.
• Educate children about mental wellbeing in schools from starting school.
• Promote programmes that encourage employers and employees to treat people with mental health conditions with more respect whether they are customers or members of staff.
• Support people with lived experience to lead, deliver and be involved in these initiatives.
• Make Workplaces More Mental Health Friendly by raising awareness of mental health conditions with managers and employees.
Everyone has a place in society
