We are not actors. We are Head Forward Role Models - real West Sussex people with a history of poor wellbeing. Click here to read in our own words how we found solutions to head forward with our lives. We hope they will help and may even inspire you.
Welcome to the Head Forward website. This is an introductory guide to help new visitors understand what the site is, how it works and how to use it. Head Forward is a health and wellbeing online advice and information service which allows users to quickly find what they are looking for from a large and comprehensive database of information.
Please note that Head Forward is not intended to replace medical advice from a health professional.
Head Forward is...
Head Forward does not...
Who is Head Forward aimed at?
This website has been designed for anyone in West Sussex who requires wellbeing information, including those seeking to improve their wellbeing, those in distress looking for help, carers, and those who provide wellbeing services.
Why has Head Forward been developed?
Wellbeing information has never been so widely available, but accessing exactly the details you want can be difficult. There are many sites with excellent information, but Head Forward is the only independent website that links general information about wellbeing topics with comprehensive coverage of local resources.
What can Head Forward do for me? I'm not 'mental'!
The false idea that if you are not coping with life you must be mad, dangerous and, if found out, outcast from society, is thankfully fading into the past. What is true is that everyone's life is full of ups and downs, and when facing the inevitable unhappy periods in our lives we often experience disturbing emotions and distress. When events occur such as physical illness, bereavement, relationship breakup, discrimination, redundancy, and many others, some people manage and some don't. One in four of us will become ill and need specialist help at some point in our lives. Even if you don't have a problem right now, it is important to be aware of your wellbeing and how you can stay well.
How does Head Forward work?
Conventional websites often have many pages of text that have to be searched to find what you want - the success of finding relevant information depending on how good the search system is and knowing how best to use it. However, Head Forward guides you by providing targeted, easy-to-understand information subject groups. Once you have chosen the group and topic you are interested in, you get a summary followed by a list of relevant clickable links to external information pages. You should find what you need in no more than three mouse clicks.
What sort of information does Head Forward provide?
Eight subject groups, most of them directly accessible from the home page (and all of them from the menu list which always remains in view) serve particular information needs, with the four main ones highlighted in the centre of the home page.
Information Subject Groups
What else is on the site?
Who is responsible for Head Forward?
Mind in Brighton and Hove was commissioned by the West Sussex Mental Health Commissioning team (who decide how local mental health care funding is spent) to conceive, develop and maintain the site, and it was launched in November 2008. Please note that Head Forward functions as an independent and impartial website.
Why should I trust that the information provided is correct?
Trusting the quality of information provided is of paramount importance to people who seek help. In many areas of wellbeing there are differing points of opinion, but Head Forward does all it can to provide information that is accurate, current, and relevant. For more details please see the Website Guide page.
We hope that you have found this guide useful. Once you have spent some time using the site we would very much like you to let us know what you think. Please go to the Get In Touch page to leave your comments and suggestions. Thank you.
Written by Steve Byhurst, Web Editor/Mind Advice & Information Worker
Last modified 14/01/10
