Mental Health
Health & Wellbeing priority:
To reduce the impact of poor mental health
Why is reducing the impact of mental health problems and improving wellbeing a priority in Trafford?
Our mental health and wellbeing affects our functioning, our physical health and our capacity to lead a healthy lifestyle. It also influences our ability to manage and recover from physical health conditions.
People with a greater sense of wellbeing (feeling generally good and functioning well) generally have better physical and mental health with lower rates of illness and faster, more sustained recovery.
Trafford adults with a severe mental illness (people with psychological problems that are often so debilitating that their ability to engage in functional and occupational activities is severely impaired e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses) are almost five times more likely to die early than the general population of England and the risk is fifth highest amongst its groups of statistical neighbours on this measure (PHOF, 2020).
How many people in Trafford are affected by mental health problems?
More than 1 in 10 adults (14.8%) are on a GP register for depression and recent trends suggest that the prevalence (existing cases) of depression in Trafford is increasing over time. Trafford has the second highest prevalence of depression amongst its group of similar authorities (Mental Health Profile, 2020).
Estimates for 2016/17 suggests that 13% of adult patients are affected by depression and anxiety, slightly higher (11.8%) than in 2015/16 (Mental Health Profile, 2017).
Approximately 2,369 adults (0.97%) are on a Trafford GP register because they have a severe mental illness (QOF, 2021).
The suicide rate in Trafford is 7.3 per 100,000 population and is better than (statistically significant) to England average of 10.4 per 100,000 (Mental Health Profile, 2020).
Which groups within Trafford are most at risk from mental health problems?
Half of all mental health problems have been established by the age of 14, increasing to 75% by the age of 24. Many mental health problems start in childhood.
Trauma, poverty, extreme stress, exposure to violence and low social support are just some of the factors that increase the risk of developing mental health problems.
There is a 68.6 percentage point gap (numerical difference between two percentages) in the employment rate for those in contact with secondary mental health and the overall employment rate and the difference is significantly similar to England average (Mental Health & Wellbeing Profiles, 2018).
Sub-group analysis on some key mental health indicators are not currently present for Trafford.
Suicide is seen as a proxy indicator of underlying rates of mental ill-health.
Many indicators of mental illness (e.g. hospital admissions for self-harm, prevalence of depression and anxiety) put females at higher risk of mental illness. However, the suicide rate remains higher in males (10.4 per 100,000) compared with females (4.3 per 100,000) (Suicide Prevention Profile, 2020).
What are we doing to reduce the impact of mental health problems and improve wellbeing?
Psychological therapies have been shown to improve outcomes for people with mental health problems. Data for Trafford CCG in September 2019 indicate that 15.1% of those estimated to have anxiety/depression entered IAPT that month. This is lower than the England average (18.3%) and second lowest amongst a group of similar CCGs. Access to IAPT services in Trafford is following a downward trend (i.e access is getting worse) (Mental Health Profile, 2019).
In 2020-2021, Trafford performed similar to the England average for coverage of blood pressure checks in people on a mental health register. Around 55.6% of people on a mental health register had blood pressure recorded in the last 12 months compared with 55.4% in England (Mental Health Profile, 2021). This is an almost 30% reduction in coverage when compared to the 2019-2020 value, with the COVID-19 pandemic likely having an impact on the number of checks carried out.
In 2018-2019, Trafford performed better than the England average for coverage of cervical screening (25-64 years of age) in people on a mental health register. Cervical screening coverage in Trafford for women aged 25-64 years on a mental health register is higher (76.1%) than England average of 70.5% and is the highest amongst its group of similar CCGs (Mental Health Profile, 2019).
Patients with severe mental illness who have a record of alcohol consumption in the last 12 months in 2018/19 was higher in Trafford (84.8%) compared with England (81.1%) (Mental Health Profile, 2019).
What services are in place for mental health and wellbeing in Trafford?
There are lots of organisations that offer mental health help, both locally and nationally. People may need different types of support at different times in their life.
Different services are available, sorted by different levels of support individuals may need. These include self-help services, getting advice, getting help and getting more help. Details of these services are available on the Trafford Directory.