As a social inclusion bridge builder I work with clients with severe and enduring mental health diagnoses. They are referred or they self-refer with the desire to access mainstream life domains.
Clients aspire to a variety of mainstream choices. It might be volunteering or befriending, it may be arts activities, it might be employment or running your own business. Client aspirations may include sports, faith, education, training or a selection from any or all of these. All drawn from the life domains identified as key by the inclusion think-tanks of the late 90s and early 2000s. Access to mainstream as a key component of the care pathway.
Enabling individuals with a 'severe and enduring' background is not always a straightforward process although it certainly can be sometimes. A client can be introduced to a mainstream outlet and it can work for him or her almost immediately. Other clients may be unready for mainstream for a variety of reasons. They may suffer a relapse before accessing the mainstream environment. They may visualise mainstream as another form of day service or statutory support system, which it isn't.
Equally, clients can sometimes express a wish to access mainstream out of a misplaced fear that not accessing it might in some way affect their payments and benefits. It can be a long process before the value and rewards of mainstream are understood.
What is true is that clients who successfully access or re-access mainstream in turn become examples of mainstream's effectiveness. Signposting to mainstream as part of the mental health recovery pathway is undoubtedly effective, even if it does not work for everyone straight away.
Mainstream also helps to sustain recovery in the individual and even better, it can propagate more success and recovery out of its own resources. An example of this would be the musician who successfully links up with a mainstream recording studio. After months of regular rehearsal the musician is invited by the studio manager to contribute to a recording session. I witness this kind of beautiful outcome and its benefits for the client in my work as an arts bridge builder.
Another example - again from music bridge building - is the guitarist client who uses a studio regularly and invites a friend to join him during the session. The friend may well be another mental health service user who has never successfully engaged with mainstream despite the best efforts of the bridge building service. Where services have been unsuccessful a friendship and peer network can do the job far more effectively.
Mainstream reaches the places other services cannot reach and in the process it is able to create a cascade effect - a continuing path of development, recovery and individual growth.
Saturday 24 July 2010
A mainstream model for recovery
Care and support are not the only models or frameworks for mental health recovery. The establishing or re-establishing of what Dr. Pat Deegan refers to as 'valued social roles' can be held back by a mental health system that often encourages the client to choose 'a career in mental health' (Pat Deegan).
A career in mental health means living longterm on benefits and longterm marginalisation from mainstream life. A career in mental health will identify symptoms, diagnoses, medication and team support but will often leave out aspirations, goals, priorities.
Where access to mainstream is encouraged, it can often be through projects or programmes which take place in special settings or are designed for people with mental health conditions. So the marginalisation continues.
A genuine return to mainstream can only take place in mainstream. This is where the role of the bridge builder comes in. A client who has worked with a mainstream bridge builder identifies goals and priorities for him or herself. It is the bridge builder's job to signpost or link the client up with mainstream venues appropriate to the client's life choices. The amount of support a client may request from there on is determined only by the client not by the bridge builder.
A career in mental health means living longterm on benefits and longterm marginalisation from mainstream life. A career in mental health will identify symptoms, diagnoses, medication and team support but will often leave out aspirations, goals, priorities.
Where access to mainstream is encouraged, it can often be through projects or programmes which take place in special settings or are designed for people with mental health conditions. So the marginalisation continues.
A genuine return to mainstream can only take place in mainstream. This is where the role of the bridge builder comes in. A client who has worked with a mainstream bridge builder identifies goals and priorities for him or herself. It is the bridge builder's job to signpost or link the client up with mainstream venues appropriate to the client's life choices. The amount of support a client may request from there on is determined only by the client not by the bridge builder.
Wednesday 14 July 2010
Discussing Mainstream
Bridge building for mainstream is now incorporated into the care pathway for people recovering from mental health conditions.
Community mental health teams, occupational therapies, psychiatrists are all aware of the value of mainstream bridge building. Many community mental health teams actively promote mainstream as part of their in-house practice with clients. Service-user led initiatives are also widely encouraged.
Where mental health teams may not always the time and resources to promote mainstream fully, there are many outside organisations working alongside the teams. The benefits of referral to an outside non-clinical team can be considerable.
Mental health teams can often discuss mainstream with clients in a clinical or home setting. An outside organisation has more time and capacity to draw clients out into mainstream settings where a conversation can begin. This may well be and should be - a conversation about the client's hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations.
One of the bridge builder's roles is to help facilitate this conversation. Another role is to be clued-in with what mainstream has to offer. For example, a bridge builder specialising in arts and culture needs to know what outlets there are both locally and further afield. A client who wishes to develop skills in music production should be introduced to the mainstream venue or venues where this opportunity takes place.
Community mental health teams, occupational therapies, psychiatrists are all aware of the value of mainstream bridge building. Many community mental health teams actively promote mainstream as part of their in-house practice with clients. Service-user led initiatives are also widely encouraged.
Where mental health teams may not always the time and resources to promote mainstream fully, there are many outside organisations working alongside the teams. The benefits of referral to an outside non-clinical team can be considerable.
Mental health teams can often discuss mainstream with clients in a clinical or home setting. An outside organisation has more time and capacity to draw clients out into mainstream settings where a conversation can begin. This may well be and should be - a conversation about the client's hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations.
One of the bridge builder's roles is to help facilitate this conversation. Another role is to be clued-in with what mainstream has to offer. For example, a bridge builder specialising in arts and culture needs to know what outlets there are both locally and further afield. A client who wishes to develop skills in music production should be introduced to the mainstream venue or venues where this opportunity takes place.
Tuesday 13 July 2010
History of Social Inclusion
Social Inclusion and mainstream arise out of a history and out of a history of ideas.
Government think-tanks in the late 1990s and early 2000s had a key role in developing current thinking and practice around social inclusion. The envisaging of 'social domains' relevant to people's lives arises from these seminal ideas. The role of mainstream bridge builder is also developed around the concept of mainstream as a pathway for mental health recovery.
Social Inclusion goes back even further. The single act of defiance by Rosa Parks in 1955 in Alabama Mississippi. A black woman refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person, thereby defying the segregration laws. A key moment that lies at the heart of the civil rights movement, not just for the United States but for equality and social inclusion everywhere.
Equal opportunities, diversity, social inclusion and fairness are now commonplaces, enshrined in the way we strive to live and work today.
Government think-tanks in the late 1990s and early 2000s had a key role in developing current thinking and practice around social inclusion. The envisaging of 'social domains' relevant to people's lives arises from these seminal ideas. The role of mainstream bridge builder is also developed around the concept of mainstream as a pathway for mental health recovery.
Social Inclusion goes back even further. The single act of defiance by Rosa Parks in 1955 in Alabama Mississippi. A black woman refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person, thereby defying the segregration laws. A key moment that lies at the heart of the civil rights movement, not just for the United States but for equality and social inclusion everywhere.
Equal opportunities, diversity, social inclusion and fairness are now commonplaces, enshrined in the way we strive to live and work today.
Social Inclusion Web
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'.
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. Other domains were identified alongside these and on the social inclusion web these appear as: Employment, Education & Training, Arts & Culture, Faith & Cultural Communities, Volunteering & Befriending. Family & Neighbourhood and Services also have sections on the web.
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. Other domains were identified alongside these and on the social inclusion web these appear as: Employment, Education & Training, Arts & Culture, Faith & Cultural Communities, Volunteering & Befriending. Family & Neighbourhood and Services also have sections on the web.
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