28 February 2024

Carl Nwabudike, Assistant Project Manager within the Mind & Body programme team, supports the management of the Mind & Body Improvement Network. His work helps to create space for members to share their passion for mental and physical healthcare integration. 

To mark the Network's second birthday Carl highlights the wonderful contribution made by the Network members – otherwise known as Mind & Body Champions.  

What makes a great Mind & Body Champion? 

A great Mind & Body champion is someone who wholeheartedly embodies the mind and body approach. When they are in their teams they advocate for the integration of mental and physical healthcare. They also think outside of the box when it comes to standard healthcare - thinking holistically about person-centred care and a whole-person approach and inspiring others to do the same. 

How does the Improvement Network support Champions?  

The network provides an array of tools and resources for its Champions. There are examples of real-life projects that successfully achieved mind and body care in practice. The network space itself (hosted through Future NHS) is a support tool for Champions. There are opportunities for Champions to share thoughts and ask questions. 

In my role as project manager my responsibility is to ensure the resources on the Improvement Network space stay up to date. Over the last 14 months we have implemented educational share and learn sessions as an offer to Champions. The sessions are one-hour long expertise sharing sessions that allow presenters to speak to a topic of interest. Members can join the sessions live or catch up via the recordings which are uploaded to the network space (Future NHS). We have found the share and learn sessions to be useful for many Champions who have had experiences working with patients within the cohort of the topics (substance misuse, alcohol dependent, diabetes, personality disorder as well as a range of comorbidities).  

What impact can Mind & Body Champions have? 

The impact that our Champions can have will look different in all organisations. All Champions can have an impact though by remembering the link between mind and body in all instances pertaining to patient care. We have had case study examples of teams covering all avenues from social and financial care to mental and physical health care for patients as well as their family members. 

How can Mind & Body Champions make the most of the network?  

Our Champions can make the most of the network by using the free resources available to them. The monthly share and learn sessions also provide an opportunity for Champions to learn something new about a topic they may or may not have experience in. Nothing is more priceless than free educational tools! 

What makes the Improvement Network great? 

My favourite thing about the network is the share and learn sessions. In formulating the network, we were looking for something we could offer people and it has been great to be able to offer these monthly (sometimes we have multiple in a month) sessions. It has been really insightful seeing how much people can benefit from colleagues sharing their expertise in a topic for an hour through Microsoft teams. This has been particularly evident through the 15-minute question and answer segments. As time has gone on, we have heard more and more questions, which shows just how keen Champions are to learn and contribute. 

What makes you proud of this community?  

I am proud of the legacy we are building and the fact that people often ask about things pertaining to the network. It’s amazing to see people be engage with the ethos of the Network and engage with and the resources and forums that we have on the Future NHS space. It's also great that we get people asking to contribute, whether it be in the form of a share and learn or through an online case study. A network is really a community and the community requires people to function efficiently. 

What are your hopes for the future of the Improvement Network? 

I hope our Improvement Network continues to grow into something that can be beneficial for people across the UK and beyond. It would be nice to grow our membership to five digits and have an active community of practice who can help other network members when required. 

Sign up to the Mind & Body Improvement Network here.