State of mind
This article supports 'Tackling a taboo' which was published in the August 2012 issue of RCN Bulletin.
Phil Cooper’s work in the the State of Mind campaign includes facilitating, devising and delivering mental health education sessions to professional rugby league players at training evenings and on Saturdays.
The mental health campaign targets rugby league players and the rugby league community using an education programme.
Each session takes about 35 minutes and includes work with a former player who had an enforced retirement after he broke his neck. “We’re trying to tick all the boxes, says Phil. “We’re told that rugby players like extremes so that’s what we try to include in the sessions.”
“It’s a labour of love for me. It’s completely voluntary and in our own time but my employer has been very supportive, especially when I had to attend professional clubs on weekday training.”
The State of Mind campaign is going from strength to strength and those behind it are now putting in a bid for funding to enable the work to grow.
“We want to be able to train former rugby league players to assist in delivering the programme,” says Phil. “We’re looking at working with amateur and semi-professional clubs, using the pull of former players. They’re helping us to amend the programme so it becomes self-sustaining for the future.”
Since the campaign’s inception, just two years ago, alliances have been formed and structures have been put in place to benefit players, regardless of their club or position. State of Mind is now being closely followed by the Rugby Players’ Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association as the standard by which those sports should aspire to when dealing with the mental health of their members.
The programme has been described by Mike Farrar, CEO of the NHS Confederation and national lead for improvements in health through sport, as a “ground- breaking initiative in sport,” and the group leaders have been invited to sit on the recently formed National Rugby and Health Forum.
RCN Mental Health Adviser Ian Hulatt says the initiative demonstrates how mental health nurses have continued actively to seek new ways to promote mental health. “It’s part of everyday life and just as we need to remain vigilant in our physical wellbeing we all should be prepared to consider and discuss our state of mind with people we trust,” he says.
Find out more at www.stateofmindrugby.com