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Medicines for Children

Medicines for Children is a new website that has been developed through a partnership between the national children’s charity Wellchild, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Group (NPPG) to provide an important new resource for parents about giving medicine to their children. Information on this site includes dosage, how to give medicine and side effects. There are also videos showing how to give medication properly, a search option for specific medicines and a variety leaflets to download.

NHS Choices

Military Medicine: NHS choices have developed an informative military medicine page which includes a link to how to access military healthcare and an in depth report on military medicine.

Keep an eye on your weight: The NHS have developed a new Body Mass Index (BMI) tracker app which you can download from iTunes.

Having problems with the NHS?

If you are experiencing any problems with your NHS treatment the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) of the NHS may be able to help you. For further information got to www.pals.nhs.uk. If you are an Army family experiencing problems with the NHS such as waiting lists, treatment or patient records AFF would like to hear about it so please contact the Health and Additional Needs Specialist at additionalneeds@aff.org.uk.

Support service for veterans, serving personnel and their families

Free, anonymous online early intervention psychological support for veterans, serving personnel & their families
24/7 access to professional councillors
Joint initiative which includes funding from Help for Heroes & Department of Health
Spokespeople & case study available for interview in London or on phone

The pioneering online wellbeing service Big White Wall, has come together with a leading military charity Help for Heroes, Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence, to help support the mental wellbeing of UK servicemen and women, veterans and their families, who can often put off talking about what’s truly troubling them for fear of stigma.

Now, in a unique pilot resulting from Andrew Murrison’s “Fighting Fit” report, they can have access to www.bigwhitewall.com giving them a chance to unpack their troubles in a safe, supported environment, whilst remaining totally anonymous.

Help for Heroes has provided a grant of £100,000 to help fund a one-year pilot scheme in conjunction with £250,000 from the Department of Health. Additional funding of up to £300,000 has also been committed by Help for Heroes after the first year.

Funding for the project means veterans, serving personnel and their families can access the 24/7 service for free. Amongst other services, users can talk anonymously to others who may have gone through similar experiences, with a team of counsellors always online to offer support. This combined with community and counselling support leads to 95% of members reporting improved wellbeing and 73% sharing an issue for the first time.

Common issues facing our serving personnel and veterans raised on Big White Wall include fear of deployment in war zones, difficult experiences and memories of war, post-traumatic stress disorder, concerns for their families whilst serving overseas, injury and disability, drug and alcohol use.

One member of Big White Wall, a decorated soldier with PTSD who wishes to remain anonymous said: “I feel that the support given by Big White Wall is fantastic. You are not judged and you can be yourself. Most of us are good at hiding our feelings. This is the only place I have felt comfortable in expressing myself.”

Avoidance of stigma for anyone experiencing psychological distress is vital, not least our serving personnel and veterans, who may not use existing offline services as Dr Andrew Murrison MP highlighted this in his ‘Fighting Fit’ report on veterans in October 2010. Dr Murrison flagged the importance of interventions acceptable to a population accustomed to viewing itself as mentally and physically robust and described Big White Wall as a ‘pioneering online early intervention service’.

To join, serving men and women, veterans and their families simply log on to www.bigwhitewall.com and click on the relevant section to them. Support Big White Wall on Facebook now www.facebook.com/bigwhitewall

The St John and Red Cross Defence Medical Welfare Service

The DMWS are the welfare service for military personnel, registered dependents and entitled civilians who become hospitalised. Qualified Welfare Officers are located in MOD Hospital Units across the UK, Germany, Cyprus and Afghanistan to provide support.

How they can help:

24 hour personal response to crisis
Practical and emotional support for hospital in-patients and dependents
Assistance coming to terms with serious illness
Liaison with Service Units, Stations and Ships
Liaison with and referral to, support groups and charitable organisations
Accommodation and information for relatives visiting seriously ill patients
Practical assistance and emotional support in the event of death or bereavement
Information and advice

For further information see: www.dmws.org.uk.

FREE Money Saving Expert Guide to Mental Health & Debt

This is a free 40-page PDF booklet for people with mental health problems and those caring for them. It covers how to handle debts when unwell, work with banks, free debt counselling, specific tips for bipolar or depression sufferers, whether declare a condition and more.

Throughout the guide, there are tips to start taking small steps to cut your debt. Real-life case studies from members of the online forum at MoneySavingExpert.com. have been used to illustrate that you are not alone; hopefully their experiences of escaping from debt may give you hope that you can do the same.

To download a copy of the booklet visit MoneySavingExpert.com.

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AFF is interested to hear your views or concerns about issues discussed on our website. Please email us at additionalneeds@aff.org.uk.