Search results

In this issue we focus on how educational opportunities can be immensely valuable in enabling individuals recovering from mental health problems to rebuild confidence, develop skills and construct meaningful lives within our communities. This can be achieved through a variety of approaches. There is now a wealth of exemplary projects around to inspire us. We invited four very differing initiatives to give a profile of their approaches to supporting ‘Life in the Day’.

This paper discusses the accessibility issues surrounding electronic books, focusing on the opportunities and potential dangers of this new technology, relevant emerging standards, and commercial products that aim to make ebooks accessible to readers with disabilities and learning difficulties.

Living in an area experiencing economic and social disadvantage is a known risk factor to poor mental health and well-being. This paper aims to understand how some communities experiencing disadvantage appear to be more resilient to the enduring challenges they face and display better mental health outcomes.

A qualitative case study approach was used. Semi-structured interviews (total = 74) were undertaken remotely with residents (n = 39) and voluntary, community and social enterprise groups, community leaders and other local stakeholders (n = 35) in four case study areas. Data analysis was cross-case, thematic analysis. Community analysis workshops (n = 4) and resilience mapping workshops (n = 4) in each site corroborated emerging insights.

Four overlapping and interacting themes support community resilience: community hubs and local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) networks; opportunities to participate and make connections within communities; open and supportive environments to talk about mental health and well-being; and community identities and collective narratives. Differences in access to these resources was a cross-cutting theme.

Community resilience can be understood in terms of the amount of resources – articulated in terms of capital – that communities can draw on in response to challenges, and how well these resources are mobilised. A thriving VCSE sector is important for community resilience in communities experiencing disadvantage as a mechanism for both sustainably building and mobilising community resources in the face of daily and enduring challenges.