Zoe Butler is an award winning nurse based in Cumbria; known for her writing, public speaking and research surrounding engagement of young people in mental health provision and her work to improve health care trainee experiences and support throughout their training programmes.
Zoe has collaborated with Local MP and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, along with Glenys Marriott, the Chairman of Headway South Cumbria and of the Cumbria Neurological Alliance, to undertake an Independent Review of services supporting children and adolescents with mental ill health in the South Lakeland area.
At the time the report was published Zoe began her nursing programme and continued her passion for supporting young people with mental health issues. The report made a number of recommendations to support young people and their families who have experienced mental health issues at both a local and national level.
One of the recommendations related to training for parents, children and young people and the public around mental health and Zoe was instrumental in working with young people to write and film 40 monologues as part of a project called ‘The Hot Potato’. The resource can be used as discussion points to raise awareness within schools and organisations regarding mental illness. Local universities are able to use these materials in sessions delivered to all fields of nursing to enable students to consider the impact a mental health condition can have on young people, giving them a more considered approach when caring for people that access services and challenging some of the negative attitudes that can surround mental illness.
Zoe has collaborated with and became Cumbria Chair for the Student Quality Ambassadors, a Health Education North West project for students of any profession to become involved regarding the promotion of good practice by challenging standards of care and by suggesting areas for improvement.
Zoe is a committee member the Organ Donation Committee for UHMBT – supporting the public and patients to have person-centred decisions surrounding their wishes for Organ Donation. Zoe was also part of the campaign to make her home town of Kendal an Organ Donation town. This is something that her peers subsequently became involved in with staff in Lancaster. Zoe is also an active dementia champion and works tirelessly to raise community awareness of dementia care.
Zoe approached staff at the University of Cumbria to invest interest in undertaking research around fellow student’s perceptions of reflection and how they used this to support their learning. Zoe looks towards publishing this work within National publications.
Follow Zoe’s journey on her blog: https://misszbutler.wordpress.com/
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