 Fy enw i d squeezingófdest Ferrari yng Nghymru, mae arwain i ddiddordeb yn eich ddiddordeb yn ddech chi, yn y nameu John McAlpine yn meddwl iawn i ddisguadau ac lefkodau. Fy enw i ddiddordeb yn enghraifftig ei wneud i gweithio'r ddiddordeb sy'n dreflocwyr. Fy enw i ddiddordeb yn eich gweithio'r ddiddordeb yn ddiddordeb, nid i gweithio'r raenwch i gweithio'r ddiddordeb yn eimlo sydd eifickeru. 220,000.ensa y dweud i'w ddodol, ac yn dod yn llunio.ποblog maes hyn yn cael ei ddarlunio a'r cefnod. Rai dyn nhw, maes i'w prifau y Mas Macalpine. Rai dydd yn c DisplayAi bod, mae'n dd Sedd Arddgart yn i ddag ac yn i ddodol. Rwy'r gweithio i mewn gwirionedd, wrth ei ddylech chi'n gweithio guffirio a'i gweld llawer o'u Andrew, Sarah, Christopher and Emma, who I believe is in the gallery this afternoon. Volunteering brings immeasurable benefits to the volunteers themselves, the individuals they support, organisations and communities, but while it is easy enough to understand what volunteering is, the term self-management is one that some people are unfamiliar with. It is the name given to a set of person-centred approaches that aim to enable people living with long conditions and their unpaid carers to take control and manage their own health. It essentially puts them in the driving seat of their care and it works for a whole range of conditions. The examples that I will use today in my speech concern mental health, however, members will have seen the briefing today from Diabetes Scotland, which strikingly emphasises how equipping patients with quality knowledge of that condition and how to self-manage it can prevent it escalating and stop further disability and even save lives. The Scottish Government's strategy for self-management of long-term conditions, or those with a caring role, is set out in Gone Yourself, launched back in 2008 alongside the Alliance, who remain a key strategic partner in its delivery. The strategy recognises that everyone has strengths, resources, skills and experience that support their health and wellbeing, and it is based on five key principles. One, be accountable to me and my experience. Two, I am a whole person and this is for my whole life. Three, self-management is not a replacement for services. Gone Yourself does not mean go to loan. Four, clear information helps me to make decisions that are right for me. And five, I am the leading partner in the management of my health. Self-management is, of course, critical for the Scottish Government's 2020 vision for a safe, effective and person-centred health service. Much of the financial investment in self-management activity has been through the Scottish Government's self-management fund, which ran from 2009 to 2012, and later laid the self-management impact fund managed by the Alliance. In the last three years, the fund has provided small grants, totaling nearly £6 million, to third sector groups to encourage the sharing of good practice and the development of new approaches to self-management. The fund has reached almost 21,500 people, created 107 jobs and 622 volunteering roles. There are excellent examples from all over the country from Edinburgh's network of neighbourhood time banks through Diabetes Scotland's Chinacum at Home project, to Aberdeen Foye's work with adults with mental health conditions. Sadly, there is not enough time to mention them all, but if I may, I would like to highlight a couple. Mo Conley is a volunteer with support in mind in Dumfries. She was nominated in the inspirational person of the year category at this year's self-management awards. Mo has a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, and with the help of support in mind, she learned about her condition and techniques for managing her symptoms. Once in recovery, Mo fell it was important that others with a similar diagnosis should benefit from the support she had received. With the help of support in mind, she began raising awareness of the condition, helping others to find sources of support on how to use self-management techniques. That includes briefing health professionals and social workers about dealing with the condition. Mo says that volunteering is an important part of her own recovery. She has registered as a member of the Alliance so that she can contribute her experience to benefit others with a bipolar diagnosis. She is also developing a peer support group and training with the wellbeing and recovery college in Dumfries. Mo's story shows that reciprocity is an important aspect of self-management. Those who have been supported by volunteers or peer workers are often inspired to volunteer themselves. I would also quickly like to mention the new horizons borders peer support project through the rain. The project employed four peer workers with lived experience of mental health problems. Those who received support from the project said that they found the service to be non-judgmental, meaningful, empowering and a key impetus to their recovery. A powerful comment that sums up why the peer support workers were so effective is this. You can learn to be a nurse or a support worker but you cannot learn how it feels to live with a long-term mental health condition. Self-management has some truly positive impacts. However, as I mentioned earlier, there is sometimes a lack of understanding of just what it means and this can be true of health and social care professionals, not all but a few, as much as the wider public. The great shame of that is, of course, effective self-management can keep people well and ease the pressure on NHS acute services, for example, by reducing unnecessary admissions. A modest investment in self-management and its volunteers can save considerable sums of money in other areas of care. We need to keep investing in and promoting the self-management fund. We must also invest in peer support roles, post-voluntary and paid, bearing in mind that the mentors themselves have their own health to manage. The Alliance's self-management network will, of course, help with this, but, at the end of the day, we all have a role to play. Thank you very much. Many thanks. Bruce Crawford, to be followed by Rhoda Grant. First, I'd very much like to thank Joan McAlpine for securing today's important debate. I can also give my apologies because I'll need to probably leave just before one o'clock because I've also got the convener's group meeting. Colleagues, I know that members' business can often be seen as not as important perhaps as Government business or as opposition debates, but members' debates like this one brought forward by Joan McAlpine can play a very important role when shining a light on issues that matter deeply to a great many people. There can be no doubt that the subject of self-management and putting people with long-term conditions in the driving seat, as Joan described it, of their own condition is a significant issue of importance to many, many people. Yes, of course, people with long-term conditions will need appropriate support, the tailor to meet their specific needs and circumstances at a given time, but it is vital when that support is being packaged and delivered that the person with the long-term condition is given the maximum control possible. At the end of the day, this type of approach is about two simple but very important words, dignity and respect. In short, it's about enabling people to live their lives in their own terms. In my own constituency of Stirling, I recently met with Shona Sinclair from a fantastic initiative called Work for ME or Work for ME, depends on what you want to call it. Work for ME was established in 2012, shown as the co-founder. She set up the work for me after research was commissioned into the experience of people living with ME or chronic fatigue syndrome and the challenges they face with employment in managing their condition. I have a deep interest in the way people with ME received their treatment and support of two friends, the ME and in the past I was the co-convener of the ME cross-party group along with another MSP who was also friend, Andy Kerr. For many people, living with ME or chronic fatigue syndrome, self-management in the workplace surprisingly can be a huge challenge. Certainly, during my time, as admittedly some time ago, as an equal opportunities offers in the then Scottish office, I can testify that the organisation, while it is progressive in its approach, didn't always get it right when it came to dealing with people with illnesses such as ME or chronic fatigue syndrome. Interestingly, SKS Scotland, a company in which Shona is also director, has done work on how best the self-employment model could potentially provide improved outcomes for people living with ME, chronic fatigue syndrome and others with longer-term health conditions. However, the challenges of self-employment can be significant and work for me was therefore brought into being with a specific purpose of helping and enabling people and organisations to meet those challenges. Work for me offers advice and assistance for those suffering with ME or chronic fatigue syndrome who are entering or returning to the business environment. That could include, Presiding Officer, support on training, project management, research and development, marketing, PR, etc. Work for me answers any questions and provides encouragement and helps. Provides a bit of help when it is needed and a bit of moral support when from mentors you understand the specific problems of returning to work. That allows the individual suffering from a long-term illness to generate personal income, see the economic social benefits of wellbeing and benefits that provides. It is an example of Shona herself who runs the work for me, went from having a very active life which included running marathons to a life of fatigue spending up to 20 hours a day in bed. Using her own life experiences she has helped others to find the best way to cope with a work-life imbalance. Leng with long-term conditions, impacts on all aspects of individuals and families' lives. Organisations such as Work for Me and many others we have heard during today and I am sure we will hear from others in the chamber can help to create a positive network for those wishing to work but who need a bit of support. To help organisations like this I am glad that the Scottish Government has committed £2 million annually to the management fund. Self-management and people who are going and trying to manage their own situation will need people like Shona and her colleagues and other organisations across Scotland who can provide the right support at the right time to enable individuals to choose how they want to live with their long-term condition. Again, I will congratulate Joan McAlpine on bringing this important debate to the chamber today. Thanks very much. Now Colin Rhoda Grant to be followed by Annabelle Goldie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I also congratulate Joan McAlpine for securing this debate today? The availability of modern technology and with it the availability of information sharing and advice means that people are more and more looking towards self-management of their conditions and it's especially the case for people with long-term conditions. Self-management gives them the freedom to plan their health around their family lives. We've had a number of briefings today ahead of the debate. Joan McAlpine mentioned Alliance and their contribution. Diabetes Scotland also would possibly represent one of the largest groups that benefit from self-management and maybe one of the most recognised groups that benefit through blood testing kits and the like. Diabetes Scotland allows people to live with diabetes understanding their condition and helps them to obtain stable blood levels that actually help them to avoid some of the devastating consequences of their disease. They also provide education and support helping people to manage their own care. Crucial to self-management, as others have mentioned, is the role of volunteers who can use their own expertise to support other self-managed. Volunteers have been involved in that as well. That is not seen as health care on the cheap. It must be about enhancing patient care on their experience and being patient-centred and patient-led. The best volunteers are those who have had the same condition and can share that lived experience with patients and professionals alike. Self-management empowers people giving them the tools to look after their own health. But there are barriers. Sadly, sometimes it's from clinicians who are cautious and maybe don't trust patients to look after their own health. There are also barriers with regard to health inequalities and morality limiting access to services and support. We must overcome those barriers to make sure that people can access self-management because I think that this has a huge ability to deal with some of the health inequalities that we see in our society. Another organisation that sent us a briefing was Sue Ryder, who has devised the MS self-management support. The Five Rs is a free 10-week course currently available in Aberdeen but hopefully will be rolled out elsewhere. The Five Rs are a relaxed rebuild, re-energised, reintegrate and regenerate. The responses to that programme have been really moving to be honest. One person said, it's brilliant and so inspiring how people manage their own lives. I found the course very beneficial in that I didn't feel disabled and I can still do lots of things with assistance. Another one, even more poignantly said, I feel in a better frame of mind than I did 10 weeks ago. I found myself trying to draw what I hadn't done for years. I think I will follow up some of those therapies. I saw my GP last week. I didn't believe how much better I seemed. I'm now coming off antidepressants. I've been on them for four years. It really shows the power that self-management can have on the wellbeing of people who use it. However, there's one example that I want to take to the attention of the minister that we're still toiling to get rolled out. That's that of patients on Warffren. The Petitions Committee have been dealing with the petition on the subject. We've been amazed at the reluctance around self-testing in adults. That is commonplace in pediatric cases. I've heard from young people who self-managed through their youth having that equipment and freedom removed when they transferred to adult services. It's not only the removal of the freedom, it's the impact that has on a person's health by having delays in test results meaning that they're not getting the appropriate levels of Warffren not to mention the inconvenience to them having to attend regular clinics and GP appointments and indeed the knock-on effect to the NHS. The Petitions Committee wrote to health boards and found that out of the 12 that responded, only 209 people were confirmed to be self-monitoring in Scotland and that's out of an estimated 55,498 Warffren patients. Around 0.37% and it's a disgrace. I hope that the minister will use today's debate as a catalyst to change this to change the appalling statistic and make sure that people whatever their condition can benefit from self-management. Many thanks. I now call an animal Goldie after which we'll move the closing speech from the minister, Ms Goldie. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I also thank Joan McAlpine for securing a debate on this important subject and I'm delighted to debate about self-management and discuss the role it can play in people's lives. As has been indicated, it is about people with long-term conditions being in charge of their own future on their own terms with access to the right information and as Joan McAlpine and Rhoda Grant have just been indicating those conditions are wide-ranging and very diverse and different people will react in different ways to the knowledge that they are suffering from a long-term condition. There will be a mixture of emotions, uncertainty, anxiety, fear and I think a general sense of neither knowing what lies ahead nor indeed how to cope. In that situation I think having information feeling you're not alone knowing there's a partnership support but also that you can direct matters and as Joan McAlpine said being in the driving seat I think that's vitally important because the right to stress that self-management does not mean having to cope alone and without support it does mean people are better informed about their conditions well prepared for everyday challenges and better supported when they ask for it and I think being in partnership with health professionals and others who provide support means that self-management can help people to make decisions that are right for them decisions that they themselves with. Indeed people say and Bruce Crawford talked about dignity and respect and people say that self-management is important to them because they are seen as an individual and they are seen as a person with strength resources, skills and experience and then they're supported to develop their skills supported in creating and cultivating social networks and developing a confidence to cope with their long-term condition and they are provided with the right information in a format they can understand. I think that all these benefits are hugely valuable and it is the case that volunteering and community involvement are immensely important in supporting and helping people who are managing long-term conditions and helping others to understand how self-management can help them. I think that there is a bit of education necessary here, I think that there's a bit of stress still to be made in broadening awareness of what these benefits can be. Indeed, knowledge transfer and exchange of ideas and experience is a vital component of making all of this work even better. Of course health and social care alliance Scotland is extremely important in supporting self-management in a variety of ways and some of that has already been referred to. I want to just talk briefly about the self-management impact fund, which was created in 2013. It has certainly benefited recipients in my areas, East Remflushar and Easton-Bartonshire, Voluntary Action, Carers Link, Carers of Weston-Bartonshire and Inverclyde Community Development Trust, the Weston-Bartonshire CVS, and I just want to praise all these organisations for the excellent work that they do. The development by the health and social care alliance Scotland of the self-management partnership and the practice programme is certainly supporting the development of self-management throughout Scotland. I want to congratulate all those involved with these initiatives in whatever way, because quite simply I think they are transforming the lives of those who are benefitting from self-management and deriving from that hope and optimism which perhaps would not otherwise be there. We now move the closing speech from the minister. Do you have seven minutes or thereby? Thank you very much. I begin by joining others in thanking Joan McAlpine for bringing this debate to the chamber. I thank colleagues for highly exceptional work that is under way across Scotland to draw upon and maximise the assets that our people bring to their health and care. It has been a short debate but, as Bruce Crawford set out at the outset of his contribution, it has been a very important debate as well. We know that good progress has been achieved under the gone-yourself strategy that Joan McAlpine mentioned, which is effectively supported by the Scottish Government's continued £2 million per year commitment to the self-management fund, which members may like to know has recently launched its call for applications for the fresh round of funding transforming self-management in Scotland. In addition, around 1.3 million people volunteer each year and we recognise the enormous contribution that those volunteers make to the lives of individuals and communities across Scotland. Volunteering gives people the opportunity to bridge the gap between formal and informal learning by realising their own individual interests and talents. That is why the Scottish Government is providing funding of more than £10 million in this financial year to local and national third sector organisations across Scotland to offer support to individuals and organisations about volunteering opportunities, the resourcefulness, commitment and innovation of individuals, families, communities, third and voluntary organisations across Scotland. That is truly an inspiration not only for providing opportunities for volunteering but also as Joan McAlpine set out and Bruce Crawford and Annabelle Goldie reinforced the point in enabling and supporting people to be in the driving seat of their carats. That is something I very much echo and agree with. Turning to some of the specific examples, turning to the specific projects that are mentioned in the motion, New Horizons Borders is an organisation that I am well aware of through my previous work on the Finance Committee on the Dallas of the Welfare Reform Committee, which of course Joan McAlpine is now a member of. I was able to visit this organisation. They are doing great work in supporting better mental wellbeing with those that they work with. Of course they have been awarded £131,000 from the self-management impact fund to train peer support workers to develop a self-management course. Healthy and happy is another organisation that I have been very happy to visit in more than one occasion, most recently to open their great new facility in Rutherglen. They have a tremendous ambition to make Rutherglen and Camerslang the healthiest and happiest places in Scotland and I do not doubt with their determination that they will achieve that aim. They have of course been awarded £108,000 from the self-management impact fund to build upon their previous self-management project by providing opportunities for peer support and learning support for people with a long-term condition and their families and carers and of course this project has raised awareness of self-management within Camerslang and Rutherglen. Rhoda Grant mentioned Sue Rider on the five hours course. She liked to know that my colleague Maureen Watt, the Minister for Public Health visited that organisation to see that project in action. We know that it is providing information support to adults with multiple sclerosis and Rhoda Grant rightly highlighted the great feedback from those benefiting by that particular project. Bruce Crawford talked about self-management and returning to work. He gave his own local example. We know that there are others out there, for example the Inspire self-management programme at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, which is a five-week programme that aims to empower people who are recovering from a critical illness to take control of their health and wellbeing and which can of course help people to get back to work. There are many other examples out there. Presiding Officer, just to talk about a few, there is, of course, Hope Cafe Lanarkshire, which is a peer led mental health and wellbeing project in rural Clydesdale, which facilitates various activities to promote and support positive mental health and wellbeing and encourage self-management. There is Macmillan Glasgow Libraries, a strategic partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support and Glasgow Life, specifically Glasgow Libraries, creating a network of cancer information support services across the city, allowing individuals affected by cancer to access the right support at the right time within their local community. There are others such as NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Heart and Stroke Scotland, initiative making a difference to people affected by stroke by supporting self-management. There is Lincoln Lern, which is an initiative, I think that Joe McAlpine with her interest in carers would be interested in carers link, provide information events in health and wellbeing courses for carers, they know that not enough carers access these and they have come up with this initiative to increase participation amongst harder to reach carers and the projects you need to aspect are on computer training in their own home by train, if I want to enable them to access the learning courses that are available. Only some examples of the supporting projects are out there. We have to find ways of getting the sources of support absolutely integrated and woven into the fabric of our health and social care system, the person-centred integration of health and social care represents an excellent mechanism by which we can achieve this and make this a reality. We need to support people to have different types of conversations and forge equal partnerships with their practitioners through collaborative care and support planning helping to describe their own preferences agenda and goals helping to plan in coordinate care and support much of this involved practitioners communicating in clear and meaningful way that we understand. There are opportunities to redesign health and care to make it simple, more engaging and responsive to people's capabilities and health literacy. On that point, Rodi Grant raised the petition that is before this Parliament about self-management for Waffern patients. Of course, the petitioner contacted us all, I believe, and the Scottish Government will look very closely to see where the petitioner's committee takes the petition, but I would like to be aware that Health Care Improvement Scotland is about to publish updated guidance, which is broadly supportive of the aims of the petition. Of course, we need to look how to take this forward with existing services, but I think it was probably helpful to put that on the record that there is some work under way, but of course we will look to respond to wherever the committee takes the particular petition. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, rising to the challenge of supporting and enabling people to be in the driving seat of their care, as has been put to, is hugely important. Today's debate has, I believe, provided an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the vital role played by volunteers. The impact we are already seeing for those who are effectively enabled to be their lead partner in their care and the successes of third sector co-ordinating organisations like the Alliance in changing lives across Scotland through supporting self-management. This debate has been a very useful opportunity to put on record our collective thanks and I would like to make my own. I thank all those involved in that and I can also conclude by thanking Joe McCarthy once more for bringing forward this debate to the chamber. Thank you very much. Many thanks and thank you all for taking part in this important debate. I now suspend this meeting of Parliament until 2 o'clock.