6th October 2023
As SAMH turns 100, we’ve been revisiting the achievements of our founder Dr. Kate Fraser CBE to inspire a year of Centenary celebrations. Much has changed since our history began in 1923, yet many of our original aims remain the same. At its core, SAMH seeks to spread knowledge and increase awareness of mental health problems, encouraging others to collaborate and provide positive recovery pathways for the people we support.
In this spirit, we hosted our public lecture Delivering Solutions in Mental Health – Improving Outcomes for People Leaving Hospital in September.
Held at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden, this event brought together leading experts and people with lived experience of mental health problems to explore current research and best practice in supporting people in the weeks and months after a hospital stay. We were joined by key speakers including:
- Dr. Andrew Watson, Consultant in Rehabilitation Psychiatry and Associate Medical Director, Psychiatry at NHS Lothian;
- Professor Colin McKay from the Centre for Mental Health and Capacity Law at Edinburgh Napier University; and
- Susan Forrest, Policy and Practice Development Manager at SAMH
We closed our Centenary lecture with a film showcasing our North Lanarkshire Support Service, which supports people before, during and after the transition from hospital care to living in the community. We featured the words of John, who we recently supported, and our collaborators Jenny Hunter, Gary Downie and Brian Donnelly.
Thank you to everyone who stimulated discussion, raised awareness of the benefits of collaboration, and put forward fascinating questions to our expert panel.
