Confident Conversations: Supporting the emotional wellbeing of people living with long-term conditions

Learn how to make a positive different to those living with long-term conditions

Living with a long-term condition (LTC) that causes pain, discomfort, and uncertainty doesn’t only impact our physical health, but our mental health too.

On this two-week course, you’ll gain first-hand insights from people living with a chronic condition to help you develop your empathy, understanding, and skills to make a difference.

With this knowledge, you’ll be able to improve your relationships and better support those with an LTC, whether this is in your professional or personal life.

Boost your conversation skills to improve your support

You’ll start by unpacking the different risk factors that make people with an LTC more likely to experience mental health problems, such as uneven healthcare provision.

Next, you’ll discover the barriers to having confident conversations about mental health. Through this exploration, you’ll develop your understanding of how you can work to mitigate against these barriers.

Understand mindful communication to develop your interpersonal skills

To further your conversation skills, you’ll unpack the principles of mindful communication, active listening, and how to signpost for further support.

This exercise will help you develop your interpersonal skills and be able to create the right environment for confident conversations.

Learn from the experts at the Mental Health Foundation

Throughout the course, you’ll be guided by the specialists from the Mental Health Foundation, one of the UK’s leading mental health charities. What’s more, you’ll hear directly from people living with a long-term condition to ensure you learn from those with lived experience.

By the end, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to treat and support the whole person, not just their physical condition.

This course is designed for anyone in contact with someone living with a long-term condition.

You could be a healthcare professional such as occupational therapist, GP, or physiotherapist. Alternatively, you could be a colleague, friend, or family member of someone living with a long-term condition.

This course is designed for anyone in contact with someone living with a long-term condition.

You could be a healthcare professional such as occupational therapist, GP, or physiotherapist. Alternatively, you could be a colleague, friend, or family member of someone living with a long-term condition.

• Explore the risk factors for poor mental health amongst people with a long-term condition.
• Recognise the benefits of conversations for improving mental health and wellbeing.
• Considering the barriers to effective communication.
• Practising the interpersonal skills of mindful communication, active listening and signposting for further support.