All aboard. How the Italian city of

A new vision of community health care was launched by the Connecting the City conference at York St John University in February. This event was strongly influenced by health care in Trieste.

Pioneered from the 1970s, this involves co-production with different partners and community care, support and opportunities rather than institutional care.

In the Trieste model, help and advice is available 24/7, based around people’s needs in the community. Everyone is treated with respect and helped – with no waiting lists – and the mental health hospital has now closed, as the evidence suggests people don’t recover in institutional care.

As Trieste recognised, in-patient care can involve lots of bureaucracy and sometimes people are not safe in such environments.

Hospitals and different help-orientated places can revolve around the needs of staff management, rather than what people need. W

Making the right connections

A new vision of community mental health in York owes something to Trieste and to the No1 bus, writes Brenda Hodgson

22 HAT links the number one bus in York and the city of Trieste in north-eastern Italy? The answer lies in an innovative, local and community-based vision for social change.

Everyone was shocked with the sudden closure of Bootham Park Hospital in York, set to become luxury retirement flats for people aged over 55.

The new strategy is a place-based model, where people who have experienced mental health issues are given opportunities that connect them to their peers and others in the community. People feel better about themselves if they feel part of their local community, connected, valued and useful.

The Connecting the City conference launched the new strategy, looking at eight different community hubs in the city.

Maps were placed on tables of eight areas of York, with a council community representative working in each community hub at each table. Later, these representatives gave a verbal summary of key points.

It was all about communication and getting different people talking about centres of excellence for the community in each location. Many different groups in the city support local people and make York a more inclusive, healthier place to live.

One of the speakers, Mike Calvert, regularly

uses the No 1 bus which travels from New Earswick to Acomb. As he was on the bus, he saw many different community assets that make a difference by working with people who struggle with mental health.

The No 1 bus passes New Earswick Folk Hall; Haxby Road sports centre and the location for the new Mental Health Hospital, Foss Park; The Hut, a space for mental health support, with various workshops, meetings for groups which welcomes volunteers; 30 Clarence Street, a community library and café, and finally St John’s University,

Photo of Trieste by Alberto Cocchi, Unsplash

home of Converge and the Discovery Hub. These provide help support and opportunities to Converge students.

Converge is proud to be part of these new developments. At Converge students can use facilities like any other student at York St John – the library, computers, cafes and the dining room.

Many different projects are run from the university, and they don’t involve talking about mental health. It is all about learning and moving away from the need for formal help and support.

People might occasionally talk to their peers about health issues and can receive informal health and advice from others who have been through similar situations. St John students also join the choir and help with classes.

The conference highlighted a need for change. More conferences and opportunities for networking are planned. Converge hopes to raise funds to develop and research the benefits of these new ways of working.

So, what links the number one bus and Trieste? It is the ‘Northern Quarter’ of the city through which the bus runs and which will be the pilot for this new vision of community mental health.

Dr Nick Rowe, founder of Converge