The Healthy Reading scheme, which is the first of its kind in Scotland, has been set up by NHS Greater Glasgow's S.T.E.P.S team, in liaison with Glasgow City Council, to give people with mental health problems speedy access to high quality psychological self-help materials.
The scheme is being extended to all Libraries and Learning Centres in Glasgow following a very successful pilot in the South area of the City, which has resulted in over 12,000 books being borrowed since February 2005. It is also being extended to include books suitable for young people in the 14-18 years age range.
Dr. Jim White, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and STEPS team leader, said: "Problems like stress, anxiety and depression are so common in Scotland and inflict so much distress on sufferers and their families. So we have been delighted at the response to Healthy Reading. It's a great example of how providing sensible, easily understood information can allow so many people to take back control of their lives".
"It's also a great example of working in partnership with our colleagues in Cultural and Leisure Services. We have found that our different skills have complemented each other well that, together, we have achieved a lot more than either could achieve working alone.”
The Healthy Reading project involves collections of high quality and specialised self-help information being stocked in dedicated sections of each of Glasgow’s Libraries and Learning Centres.
The collections have around 200 of the best self-help books, CDs, DVDs and other resources. The scheme couldn't be easier to use - simply join the Library on the spot and take the books away immediately.
Most of the resources in the scheme employ a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) approach and provide step-by-step self-help programmes which encourage readers to think about the way their thoughts, feelings and behaviour impact on their well-being.
It's estimated that as many as 1 in 5 of us will be experiencing mental health problems at any one time. Problems such as anxiety or depression account for at least 30% of all GP consultations.
Research evidence suggests that self-help can be very effective in helping people overcome mild mental health problems. Compared to medication, CBT and self-help has many advantages - it can work quickly, it's generally more acceptable to patients, and importantly there are no side effects or withdrawal effects when treatment concludes.
Depending on individual need, a self-help book can either be used on its own or alongside other treatments such as medication and counselling.
For more information about the Healthy Reading Scheme, please contact your local library:
or
Libraries, Information and Learning
The Mitchell
North Street
Glasgow
G3 7DN
Phone: 0141 287 2999
Fax: 0141 287 2815
E-mail: lil@cls.glasgow.gov.uk
Healthy Reading Scheme Leaflet (1p, 330Kb)
This leaflet is available in PDF format. You'll need Adobe Acrobat reader to be able to view it. This can be freely downloaded from the Adobe web site.