Raising awareness about male suicide in the East 2 PCN area of Walsall

Healthwatch Walsall working with Walsall Together had been asked to carry out a project on male suicide. The proposal for this work had been put forward by the East 2 Primary Care Network who wanted a local campaign to raise awareness about male suicide.  They produced a poster and visited over 80 local businesses who agreed to place the poster in a communal area accessible to their employees. Many larger companies made copies to place at various places within their sites to ensure that the information would be seen by all members of staff.

They sent information by post to companies in the electrical sector and the plumbing sector. The majority of these companies did not have commercial premises that they could visit, being mostly based from private residences. There were 49 companies in this cohort. They also mailed information to another 13 companies in the area who were not based near to the industrial estates where their face to face engagement was centralised.

Healthwatch visited several local pubs to ask if they could put the poster in the men’s toilets.  The information was also promoted on the Healthwatch Walsall website and via social media.

Healthwatch Walsall have received a very positive reaction to this campaign which suggests that there is a real appetite for practical information which can be available in the workplace and other public areas. They didn’t encounter any negativity and have been met with a considerable amount of enthusiasm. They felt that visiting companies face to face has contributed greatly to this. Having the poster in their hands, all said that they would put it up, many saying ‘straight away’. Many people they spoke with said that they appreciated that someone had taken the time to visit their business with the welfare of the working people to the fore.

Although they were using various ways to promote this campaign, the value of face to face engagement became clear, being able to talk directly with people meant that Healthwatch was confident that the businesses would promote this within their workplaces. They estimate that we have made this information available directly to several hundred people working in the East 2 Primary Care Network of Walsall.