Sunday 28 February 2010

MHPF - Recovery Star Approach

MHPF - Recovery Star Approach

An excellent site about the Recovery Star for social inclusion appears on the Mental Health Providers Forum website.  The link appears on the post header.

Mental Health Providers Forum describes the Recovery Star as:
'a tool for supporting and measuring change when working with adults of working age who are accessing mental health support services. As an outcomes measurement tool it enables organisations to measure and summarise:

the progress being made by service users
the service being delivered through a project.

The Recovery Star is also an effective keyworking tool. It is designed to support individuals in understanding where they are in terms of recovery and the progress they are making, providing both the client and worker a shared language for discussion mental health and wellbeing.

Core dimensions of the Recovery Star
The Recovery Star identifies and measures ten core areas of life:

Managing mental health
Self-care
Living skills
Social networks
Work
Relationships
Addictive behaviour
Responsibilities
Identity and self-esteem
Trust and hope'

Social Inclusion

Social Inclusion

Two major assessment tools have been developed for social inclusion. One is the social inclusion 'Web' and the other is the 'Star' or 'Recovery Star'. The web can be viewed by clicking on the header link above.

Originally created by the National Development Team (NDT) the web is a simple and effective assessment tool based on five key social domains. The domains were identified as key in the research done in the late 90s and early 2000s around social inclusion.

On the web these domains appear as:

Employment
Education & Training
Arts & Culture
Faith & Cultural Communities
Volunteering & Befriending
Family & Neighbourhood
Services

What makes the web unique for mental health is that it does not record or measure symptoms or diagnoses.  A client who wishes to record which services he or she accesses may include the psychiatrist or community mental health team.  However, the main purpose of the web is to record the client's involvement in mainstream.  More importantly, the web is there to identify client's goals and aspirations in terms of where he or she wishes to be in mainstream.

Next blog posting: The Web and the role of the Bridge Builder.

Monday 22 February 2010

Equalities in Mental Health Conference February 24th

Look out for the MHFA England stand at the Equalities in Mental Health Conference on February 24th. Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Westminster, London.

Tuesday 16 February 2010

The Broken Recovery

Dr. Pat Deegan visualises recovery and the return to mainstream life as crucial moments in an individual's journey through mental illness.  It is a return that can often be blighted by low expectations, both by the service user and by his or her professional team.  Even carers and family members can contribute to damaging an individual's recovery.

Monday 1 February 2010

Social Inclusion - does it exist?

Social Inclusion has long been a mantra for organisations representing clients who may be isolated or marginalised for one reason or another.  Government think-tanks in the early 2000s identified  key areas or social domains relevant to people's lives and development in the mainstream world.  These are: employment, the arts, spirituality & cultural identity, volunteering, sports & healthy living, family and neighbourhood. 

As a social inclusion bridge builder for mental health, I work with clients who wish to access Arts & Culture .  The social inclusion approach will ask a client to identify which social domains they would like to prioritise for inclusion in mainstream.  The bridge builder's role is then to signpost the client to the mainstream domain which has been prioritised.  In order to facilitate this, bridge builders must have a wide network of local and regional contacts in his or her field of expertise.  Further support relates only to how much or how little the client requests.

As Arts bridge builder for example, I need to know what is out there for clients who may wish to do arts courses or rehearse and record their music.  Other clients may be seeking self-employment through tutoring, performing or composing.  All of these aspirational goals have had successful outcomes, some of them quite outstanding.  All the clients referred to mainstream come from a background of 'severe and enduring' mental health conditions.

The bridge building service is not a clinical or diagnostic one, although we work closely with Community Mental Health Teams.  It is designed to enable clients to participate in mainstream, based on their own preferences, choices, skills and dreams.  Clients are free to choose whether to disclose their illnesses or not. 

When the arts bridge builder meets with a client, the key questions are 'what do you wish to see happen for yourself' or 'what would you like to do'.  Bridge building focuses on aspiration, goals and innate gifts and talents.  And that's it.