The Closer2Home team have been working together with peer support workers to create a website for young people, families and carers who want to learn more about the service.
The peer support workers - young people with lived experience of mental health challenges who support other young people and their families receiving mental health services - were able to offer valuable insight into how the website should be designed to resonate with and reassure young people and be inclusive for neurodiverse visitors.
They worked with a designer to co-produce a set of illustrations and a photographic style that would be engaging and inclusive. They also tested different sensory-friendly colour schemes and fonts for the new website.
William Gallini-Poole, Peer Specialist in the Discovery Project, which is run by Dorset Healthcare and Dorset Mental Health Forum, said:
"As a Peer Specialist, my role is not only to bring my lived experience to support patients and families who are struggling but to also support the Closer2Home team with my lived experience where needed.
As part of this, we worked on co-producing the site for the Closer2Home, bringing lived experience and understanding of what previous NHS websites felt like.
We were able to produce a website which puts accessibility at the forefront, in order to support young people in feeling welcome within the team and to highlight the resources the team provides. To be able to sit at that table and provide insight from a neurodiverse and lived experience point of view is something I'm really happy and proud to be able to do."
Closer2Home is an intensive home treatment service which enables young people in Dorset and Hampshire with acute mental health problems to receive treatment at home, rather than be admitted to hospital.
Young people visiting the website can find helpful information about how they will be supported by the service. There is also advice for families and carers, information for health care professionals about how to make a referral to the service and a page for professionals interested in making a career move to join the Closer2Home team.
The website also includes an accessibility toolbar so that visitors can adjust the text size, colour contrast or change the language to their preference.
Launched in February 2022, Closer2Home is commissioned by the Wessex & Dorset CAMHS Provider Collaborative and delivered as a collaboration between Dorset Healthcare, Solent NHS Trust and Southern Health.
Take a look at the Closer2Home website.