Easy read guide to our response to the government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan

1. 

   Mental health means how you feel and how your feelings affect you. A mental health problem is a problem with someone’s mind that can make it difficult to cope with feelings.

2. 

   The government have put together a plan for supporting people with their mental health over the next ten years called the Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan. They asked people to read the plan and reply with what they think.

3. 

   United Response wants to make sure that people with disabilities can live happier, healthier and longer lives. Last week, we sent our ideas to the Government and asked for 9 things:

4. 

   We want more information for everyone about mental health problems and your rights when you are in danger of hurting yourself. This will be helpful for people who need support with their mental health in an emergency.

5. 

   We are asking the government for more training for support workers and health workers so mental health services are more accessible and people can get mental health help faster.

6. 

   Many social care workers say they feel stressed and don’t get enough help. We want to change this. Social care is care and support for people who need help to live independently and stay safe and well. This includes some people with disabilities and autism.

7. 

   We want people who work in social care to have mental health check-ups at work and get support with their mental health when they need it.

8. 

   We want the law to change so that people have better choices and more accessible information about their mental health. Many other disability and autism groups like Mencap and the National Autistic Society want this too.

9. 

   We want the government to do more research about social prescribing. This is when doctors and nurses suggest other services for patients to use. They should study how this works in the UK and develop a plan for better healthcare for people we support.

10. 

    We want more mental health advocacy services for people and their families when they need them. Advocacy means helping a person get their voice heard and stand up for their rights. It is important that disabled people make their voices heard because they may not always be understood.

11. 

    There are people and organisations who can help you to find an advocacy service. Some are free but some charge a fee. We want more advocacy services and for them to cost people less money.

12. 

    We are asking the government for an updated Hate Crime Action Plan to help more people who have been hurt by someone because of their disability. This is important because it will mean things will be better and fairer for victims of hate crime.

13. 

    We want better protection for disabled and autistic people in the Online Safety Bill. This is a law that wants to make sure that people are safer when they are using the internet. We want the Bill to include more information about online safety for disabled and autistic people.

14. 

    We also want social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to do more to stop people sending nasty messages or doing bad things to people online.

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