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Supporting people to keep
busy in prison
While we have all faced restrictions
on what we can do during lockdown,
no group has been more restricted
than those in prison, who face being
in their cells 23 hours a day.
That has posed a challenge for
occupational therapists who work in prisons on
how to support them on little or no budget.
Charlotte Wise, a senior occupational therapist
at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare
NHS Trust who is based at HMP Stoke Heath,
said: ‘Normally I work with the lads on a one-toone
basis doing therapeutic interventions, like
emotional regulation and anxiety management.
But since the end of March we’ve had to stop
one-to-one appointments and see them more for
welfare checks because of how often we can see
them.’
To create some resources to keep people
busy, prison-based occupational therapists
networked on Twitter and then set up an email
group to share ideas for activity and distraction
packs that can be printed and circulated in each
prison.
The packs at Stoke Heath have included
puzzles, colouring, exercise, yoga examples and
other resources for self-care, as well as reading
material. Board games such as snakes and
ladders have also been printed off and laminated
for circulation, with people making their own
paper dice.
Over 100 packs have been issued so far, with
the content refreshed every week.
A competition has also been set up – Get
Creatin’ While Isolatin’ – to prompt people to
create something while they are spending so
much time alone. ‘One of the nurses came up
with the title and did a really cool poster,’ says
Charlotte.
‘We have had poems written on how people
are managing and tips for how they would like to
support others, which is really nice to see for a
population that has a lot of bad press. We’ve also
had spoken word pieces, drawings and pictures,
and some people have contributed some
colouring in as they find creative things harder but
still want to contribute.
‘The plan to is create a healthcare book on
keeping well, and we’re hoping to include some of
what has been created.’
OTnews June 2020 13