Occupational Therapy News OTnews July 2019 | Page 30

FEATURE MENTAL HEALTH Spaces for Recovery College courses also tend to be limited for those wanting to attend on discharge. Future direction for recovery courses on the acute wards includes expanding the range of courses available and to consider the potential to ‘track’ students’ Recovery College progress to support discharge planning. References Aked J, Marks N, Cordon C and Thompson S (2008) Five Ways to Wellbeing: the evidence. London: New Economics Foundation Anthony W (1993) ‘Recovery from mental illness: The guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s’, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 16(4):11-23 Champagne T and Gray K (2016) Occupational therapy’s role in mental health recovery. Maryland: AOTA Department of Health (2011) No health without mental health: A cross-government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages. London: HM Government NHS England (2019) The NHS Long Term Plan. Available online at: www.longtermplan.nhs.uk Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2019) Making personalised care a reality: The role of occupational therapy. London: RCOT Emma Softley, occupational therapist, Waveney Ward, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, email: [email protected], and Laura Marrows, peer tutor, Recovery College, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, email: [email protected] Laura’s experience as a peer tutor ‘My own lived experience of inpatient mental health care fuelled my commitment to co-producing a course that brought the Recovery College to the wards. It has been a fantastic experience to work with Emma in the occupational therapy department; recovery is at the heart of every interaction she has with service users. ‘The course allows services users to spend time as students during their inpatient stay and experience an accessible Recovery College. ‘From my own inpatient experience, having the time and space to take part in meaningful, recovery based activities was crucial. Peer support often occurs naturally on a ward, and during the “social time” we incorporated into the course we have seen it flourish. ‘Students support and provide hope to each other; their insight and compassion astound and enrich my own recovery journey.’ 30 OTnews July 2019 Emma’s reflections as a therapist ‘Bringing Recovery College courses to the acute inpatient wards has been important, both for the service, students and my occupational therapy practice. ‘These courses give service users the opportunity to learn about the recovery principles and begin to make links to the Recovery College as a resource to access in the community. ‘I have found the Recovery Model easy to implement as part of occupational therapy, since both have a holistic viewpoint which is “inherently client-centred, collaborative, and focused on supporting resiliency, full participation, health promotion, and a wellness lifestyle” (Champagne and Gray 2016). ‘I think that the Five Ways to Wellbeing work well in particular from a normalising perspective. They were developed to promote wellbeing on a population level and not just specific to those with mental illness. ‘They are simple (evidence based) ways that we can all incorporate into our daily lives to improve our wellbeing; we explain this to our students, which helps to increase understanding, reduce stigma, and provides a shared learning experience. ‘Furthermore, these sessions fit very much with the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS England 2019) and overarching recommendations from the RCOT Improving Lives, Saving Money campaign (RCOT 2019), in supporting people’s ability to manage their health and wellbeing. ‘Teaching alongside Laura has been a privilege; she has shared her knowledge with myself and students from not only her lived experience, but also her further studies as an individual and peer tutor. ‘Laura was instrumental in ensuring “social time” at the beginning of each session to encourage socialisation and peer support, which is an important part of the Recovery College experience. When students learn that peer tutors are experts by experience, it offers them inspiration and hope – recovery feels possible. ‘The overall journey of co-production and co-delivery of the courses has been positive and rewarding for myself and the Wellbeing and Therapy team to the benefit of our service users.’