What it means to be a Mind & Body Champion

Boryana Smilenova, programme support officer in our Mind & Body team, reflects on what it means to be a Mind & Body Champion and explains how you can join our community of more than 850 advocates.

Can you tell us a bit about your role at King’s Health Partners?

I’m the programme support officer in the Mind & Body team at King’s Health Partners. Some may say I have a finger in each of our project’s pies!

I lead on the communications across the programme, including our Mind & Body Champions newsletter. I provide support for three of our key projects; Integrating Mental and Physical healthcare Research, Training and Services (IMPARTS) and Integrating our Mental and Physical Healthcare Systems (IMPHS). Over the past several months, I have been closely involved with the e-IMPARTS pilots as well as King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s work supporting staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example by helping to set up wellbeing hubs.

Can you describe the role of a Mind & Body Champion?

A Mind & Body Champion is someone who promotes the importance of treating mental and physical health as one. We believe in holistic care and in practice this means that if a patient presents to a mental health professional with a severe mental illness, then the professional would take into account both their physical and mental health needs during their assessment. The same would apply where a patient has a physical health problem; healthcare professionals would consider both their physical and mental health needs. 

Nearly half of people with mental illness have at least one long-term physical condition and 30% of people with long-term physical health conditions also have a mental illness. This means treating patients as a whole – both their mind and body – is essential in ensuring we meet their needs. Evidence shows that by joining up physical and mental healthcare, we can help someone to manage their various conditions, improve their health outcomes, and in some even prevent unnecessary health problems by identifying risk early. 

A Mind & Body Champion advocates for holistic care by educating their team and others on the link between the mind and body, as well helping to support their colleagues’ mental and physical wellbeing. 

Who can become a Mind & Body Champion? 

If you work for one of our partner organisations – King’s College London or Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital or South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts - or in a mental or physical healthcare setting anywhere in south and south east London, you can become a Mind & Body Champion.

Understanding the range of challenges people face as individuals, diversity and a range of experience is highly valued in Mind and Body. That’s why we encourage all our staff to join our network of champions, including those working in Learning Disabilities specialist services, with children or older adults, and staff with experience of working with patients from BAME and LGBT+ backgrounds.

The Mind & Body Champion network has been running for more than two years, and there are currently over 850 of us! It’s a great opportunity to join a large network of people across our fantastic partner organisations applying Mind & Body principles in everyday patient interactions.

Can you give us an example of how Mind & Body Champions advocate for holistic care?

Our Mind & Body Champions share blog posts about how they deliver Mind & Body care for patients and within their teams.

For example, Rachel Bowley, clinical nurse specialist at the oral and maxillofacial surgery at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, shares how her team look after the mental health of patients undergoing treatment. She used IMPARTS – a screening mechanism completed by patients before their appointments, on topics such as their emotional wellbeing - to collect information about patients’ mental health. That information is then shared with clinical teams before consultations to better inform the care needs of the patient.

Mind & Body Champion, Nikki Helder, shares how she used the Mind & Body Staff Health and Wellbeing Toolkit with the A&E team she works with at St Thomas’ Hospital. The Mind & Body Staff Health and Wellbeing Toolkit offers staff resources to support the mind and body health and wellbeing of their team.

What training is available to Mind & Body Champions?

There are plenty of training opportunities available to you as a Mind & Body Champion. You have the opportunity to improve your presentation and communication skills through sharing Mind & Body learnings with your team. You can also take part in the free interactive Mind & Body e-learning modules; the Integrating care: depression, anxiety and physical illness: online course; and the Mind & Body clinical skills courses for adults and children and young people.

What has been your biggest highlight working on the Mind & Body initiative? 

My work on numerous projects of various scales across the Mind & Body programme, has given me the opportunity to see how mental and physical care are joined up in practice. Reading about integrated care systems in documents, such as the NHS Long Term Plan, is one thing but seeing what actually happens in practice is completely different. None of this would be possible without the dedication of the people on the ground, whether as our Mind & Body Champions or carrying out their everyday roles, and for that – we thank you.

As working practices adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a great opportunity to think creatively about how mind and body care can be delivered into the future.

If you have ideas you would like to share and would like to become a Champion, please complete our Mind & Body e-learning module on our Learning Hub and our registration form.