Renewed focus for LINC

Wednesday 10 October 2018

LINC has launched a dedicated mental health and wellbeing service to help combat the prevalence of depression, stress, anxiety and other mental health conditions in the island.

Part of the LV Care Group, LINC previously focused on the care of people with dementia. Those services are still on offer under the LV Home Care brand, but LINC is now tailoring their approach to mental health support.

The service, whose name stands for ‘Living in a Networked Community’, will deliver various therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and counselling, from a Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub on Beresford Street as well as out in the community. 

It will also offer Employee and Workplace Wellbeing programmes for employers and HR Departments.

Assessment, support and treatment will also be made available to clients via Silvercloud, a specialist online platform  offering remote access to CBT therapy.

Pictured: Lucy Nicolaou, mental health nurse and LINC manager.

The operation will be led by Lucy Nicolaou, mental health nurse and LINC service manager.

She commented that LINC’s new focus came amid a rise in children and young people being referred to mental health services, workplace stress, prescriptions for anti-depressants, and increasing waiting times for help. 

“These aren’t problems that will simply disappear if we ignore them. It’s essential that we start to tackle these issues head-on and introduce innovative services to improve accessibility and availability of support for those that need it,” she said.

“We look forward to working in partnership with existing providers to help fill the gaps within mental health services.”