Ep 2. Mental health doesn't happen in isolation, Dr Claire Watson

Claire Watson, recovery academy lead at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, joins us on the second-ever NHE podcast, talking us through general mental health and the state of care for it currently, as well as what she sees in her role as the potential solutions, and causes, of the problem.

The Recovery Academy, set up in 2013, is where Claire now spends her time, helping facilitate shared learning around mental health at the facility – which acts as a college within a functioning mental health hospital.

As she describes, it wasn’t the initial route she’d planned but a “series of fates” saw her end up in the current role, where as of October 1, 2019 she assisted in launching the academy’s 14th prospectus, now offering 66 courses and catering to more than 7,500 learners.

Mental health remains, understandably therefore, a huge pressing issue in Claire’s mind for the modern-day health and social care sector. In her eyes, as a mum to a teenage daughter, there is immense and constant pressure on young people and as such there needs to be real care and attention put into addressing mental health concerns they might have.

“Mental health doesn’t happen in isolation” – that was the most powerful statement of Claire’s during the podcast, and rings true as she discusses just how we should look to help address wider problems if we are to genuinely tackle mental health issues.

There is so much great, important conversation to indulge yourself with in this podcast, but equally we bring a little bit of a light onto who Claire is herself.

So, what two songs keep our incredible guest in good spirits, and can you beat her score on our health news quiz?!

Finally, who would Claire most want to sit down with at a dinner party and pick their brains? It’s a dinner table we certainly think many would be interested to listen into!

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