Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health - Increasing Kinowledge, Supporting Change

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SDC appoint new chief executive

The Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health (SDC) is delighted to announce the appointment of Hilary Campbell as its new Chief Executive.

Hilary comes to SDC following her role as Chief Executive of Relate Scotland (formerly Couple Counselling Scotland) which she occupied for five years between 2002 and 2007. She has formerly worked extensively in the private, public and voluntary sectors, with various positions including; the Depute Director of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and; Head of Policy at the Scottish Sports Council (now Sportscotland). She has a BA in Social Science and an MA in Economics.

Hilary’s appointment follows the departure of former Chief Executive, Dr Allyson McCollam, at the end of April. Allyson has been involved with SDC since 1997, initially leading the organisation’s research and development work alongside Director Gregor Henderson and was Chief Executive of SDC for the past six years. Allyson will continue to be involved in various ways with mental health and wellbeing work in Scotland.

SDC would like to take the opportunity to thank Allyson for her work in developing SDC and putting us at the forefront of working towards achieving better mental health for individuals, families and communities in Scotland.

Speaking of the announcement, Mike Scott, Chairman of the SDC Board, said, “We are delighted to appoint someone of Hilary’s calibre and expertise to take SDC forward at a time of change and development.”

latest news

Please click on the links below to get the latest information on current projects and download reports:

Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland: Policy & Action Plan 2009 - 2011 was released on 7 May 2009, click here to view the document

Audit Scotland have recently produced a report, in consultation with SDC, entitled Overview of Mental Health Services to view a copy, click here

Scottish Primary Care Mental Health Research and Development Programme Bulletin - Issue 2, April 2009

SDC has renewed its vision, aims and objectives and identified new priorities to guide its work programme in the years ahead.

We continue to be committed to working in partnership with others to achieve better mental health for individuals, families and communities.

SDC’s vision

Mental health is a vital resource that individuals, families, communities and societies need, to be able to thrive.

SDC will work with others to create the conditions and opportunities for everyone to enjoy mental health and wellbeing, to draw attention to inequalities in mental health and to seek to address these inequalities.

Everyone’s mental health is important. Improving mental health is everyone’s business.

SDC will take a lead in promoting awareness of the centrality of mental health and wellbeing to sustainable economic, social and cultural development and in encouraging action to improve the mental health of the population.

SDC’s aims are to:

Influence the policy, social and culture climate and foster debate and discussion on the significance of mental health and wellbeing for social and economic prosperity

Act as a catalyst for change by demonstrating how improving mental health and wellbeing can contribute to finding lasting solutions to the crucial issues of our time, such as inequities in health and the problems arising from social injustice

Support the translation of ideas into actions and the development of policies, services and initiatives that enhance mental health and well being

SDC’s objectives are to promote and facilitate:

Learning through research and evaluation
Development by building capacity
Sharing through knowledge exchange
Looking to the future through innovative thinking

SDC’s priorities for 2008 - 2011

Working life: wellbeing at work. Promoting mentally healthy workplaces and addressing inequalities in mental health at work.

Community life: places and spaces. Environment has a strong influence on our mental health through how we experience our physical surroundings and through the opportunities we enjoy for interaction with other people and for activity.

Community life: young people’s perspectives on mental health and wellbeing. Exploring the opportunities and challenges that face young people from diverse backgrounds and in different circumstances, who are not in school.

Community life: arts and culture. Participation in arts and culture can be life enhancing and can also be a means to create meaning and purpose and to bring people together.

Recent changes in SDC

To enable the organisation to work towards these aims and objectives and focus on our priorities, we have made changes to the structure of the organisation. Details of who’s who in SDC can be found by clicking here.

The Support for Change report is now available to download - click here

Employability Pathway in Partnership Mental Health Event - 30 May 2008 The Thistle Hotel Glasgow - click here for summary

An evaluation of the operation of "See Me" the national campaign against stigma and discrimination associated with mental ill health - January 2009 Full report and Summary report

Forthcoming SDC Conference

In autumn 2009, SDC will host a conference to explore the role of the internet in mental health. The event will discuss the use and misuse of the internet in terms of risk and opportunity.

Please see our events page for further details of how you could contribute to this conference.

clients & partners

For a list of previous clients and partners and related publications, please click here

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