Chinese Mental Health Association

2nd Floor
Zenith House
155 Curtain Road
London
EC2A 3QY

Tel: 020 7613 1008
Wah Sum Helpline: 0845 122 8660
Fax: 020 7739 6577
Web: www.cmha.org.uk

The Chinese Mental Health Association is a voluntary organisation and registered charity set up to help Chinese people who are sufferers of mental illness. The association aims to promote mental health education in the Chinese community and to raise awareness amongst the mainstream healthcare providers regarding Chinese mental health issues. The association aims to improve the quality of life amongst Chinese mental health sufferers and their carers by the following means.

• Helping them access services which are already provided through statutory and voluntary organisations.
• Provision of Chinese services run by Chinese workers specifically for mental health issues.
• Community housing support assists Chinese people suffering from mental issues to live independently in the Borough of Barnet.
• Befrienders are trained by a coordinator and then matched according to interests, language, age, etc, with someone in need of close counsel or friendship.
• Free face to face or telephone counselling (in Cantonese, Mandarin and English).
• User self advocacy aims to empower users to speak up on the issue that affect them.
• Responding and outreach team helps to provide better and more culturally sensitive mental health services. The services include interpreting, provision of information and advice and hospital outreach visits.
• User social group is for the recovering mental health services to encourage interaction, learning and fun through the regular activities.
• National mental health helpline service provides emotional support for the Chinese community in the UK.
• Chinese Gamcare Project is not just for the gamblers to stop or to bring their gambling under control, but also to improve health and social aspects of everyone who is in need of support services in or to maximise their potential to enjoy a productive life.
• Community Development Worker Project is part of the national "delivering Race Equality" Programme. It works across Barnet to increase access to culturally appropriate mental health services for all BME communities residing there.
• Youth Volunteering Project is to provide learning opportunities to young people aged 16 to 25 through volunteering work, to lead and run different kinds of community events and activities aiming to promote mental well being to the Chinese communities.
• Employment Project is to help people with mental health needs gain and retain paid or unpaid employment. Ascertain the employment and education needs of individuals, organise and facilitate in-house training programme, develop appropriate work placement and opportunities.

The association have produced a wide range of bilingual mental health information resources to raise awareness and combat stigmas attached to mental illness. These range from television documentaries, weekly newspaper columns to translated mental health booklets and a hospital in-patient welcome pack.