Community Listening Ears: Mental Health in Newham
Summary
The Community Listening Ears (CLE) is a grassroots-led community engagement project inspired by our volunteers, to further Healthwatch's engagement with local people in Newham and delve deeper to how residents have been managing their mental health post-COVID, alongside the compounded economic effects of the cost-of-living crisis.
The CLE is a pilot to test whether this new approach to community listening could spearhead future pieces of engagement work and understand the nuances of lived experiences within diverse communities. The findings will be used as a foundation for future research aimed at improving services and identifying the barriers to access.
This project aimed to gather the voices of residents about their experiences on mental health in three specific areas: Relationships, Long-term Conditions, and Cost-of-living. Qualitative methodologies such as focus groups and semi-structured interviews were employed, 64 residents participated in the pilot.
Key findings
Mental Health and Relationships:
- Sentiment: 65% of participants reported a negative impact on their mental health due to relationships in the past 3 years, while 35% reported growing closer to their loved ones.
- Loneliness: When asked “Since the pandemic have you felt lonelier” 29% participants stated yes, 9% stated no.
- Access to support: Only 6% of participants received support, indicating a lack of access to services. Some reported to have been turned away when they sought help.
Mental Health and Long-term Conditions:
- Sentiment: All participants reported negative emotions about living with a long-term condition(s).
- Capability: 82% of participants reported that their long-term condition affected their enjoyment of activities.
- Peer-to-peer support: 71% of the participants reported a positive sentiment towards talking to others with a similar long-term condition, while almost a quarter disagreed.
Mental Health and the Cost-of-living:
- Sentiment: 95% of participants confirmed that the cost-of-living affected their spending, with 92% reporting a negative impact.
- Spending habit: Participants reported changes in their spending habits due to the cost-of-living crisis and expressed negative feelings about the impact. Many mentioned having to search for discounts and coupons.
- Financial security: 89% reported losing a sense of financial security.
- Access to support: 87% are aware of the support available. 8% confirmed to have accessed support, 34% confirmed they haven’t. Some reported to have been turned away when they sought help.
