Community mental health learning programme

The Community Mental Health Learning Programme is Likewise and Mind’s learning function for the community mental health system. Rather than delivering frontline services itself, the Programme tests new ways of working, evaluates what happens, and feeds that insight back to strengthen services across the borough.

• Phase 1 (2023–25): Members of VCS staff were embedded within Camden’s NHS Community Mental Health Core Teams, working alongside clinical colleagues to support the shift towards more personalised, holistic approaches to care — promoting greater integration between services and closer alignment with local neighbourhoods.
• Phase 2 (2025–26): The Programme extended into the East Integrated Neighbourhood Team, connecting health, council and voluntary and community sector (VCS) partners around shared neighbourhood priorities.

• Evaluation of Camden Core Teams — a bottom-up evaluation of how the Community Mental Health Framework has been implemented, combining staff and service user interviews with performance data.
• Co-production Reference Group — a service user group, running since 2024, that has shaped service redesign, contributed to Public Health Needs Assessments, and offered consultation to NHS and local partners.
• VCS Neighbourhood Agenda — a shared vision, developed with local authority and VCS partners across four workshops, for how the voluntary sector aligns with Camden’s neighbourhood model.
• Group Support Survey — research into the barriers and preferences shaping residents’ engagement with group-based mental health support.
• A Simple Guide to Navigating the Mental Health System — frontline-designed training that has improved staff understanding of referral routes across Camden, delivered to around 180 people live and viewed 90+ times online.
• Launch Pads: Supportive Discharge — pilot support groups helping people bridge the gap between clinical discharge and independent community life, run with 39 members across five neighbourhoods.
• Welcome In, Kentish Town — a series of community events tackling loneliness by connecting residents with local voluntary sector offers, reaching over 255 people across three events.
• Community Connections Booklet — a printed guide to 17 local organisations and services, distributed at events and through GP practices to help residents find support.