Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2019 | Page 17

MENTAL HEALTH FEATURE
involved the film industry and charitable work,’ he reflects. ‘This
allowed me to express myself and focus my mind on what my
objectives were in the past and re-involve myself in my previous
occupations.
‘Involving myself in my previous occupations allowed me to
think bigger than the hospital and re-engage my mind in finding my
identity again and pursuing my aims and objectives.’
During his time on the ward, Jerome worked with the
occupational therapist on a number of projects that were of interest
to him, including roles in the library and a paid garden job.
‘My participation in work projects with occupational therapy was
complimented with a set of workshops designed by Josip Lizatovic,
an occupational therapy technician for art,’ he says.
‘Art helped me with my concentration and photography and
video editing helped with stimulating the mind and learning new
skills. It facilitates more freedom of thought, which in turn relieves
stress and develops your thinking capacity.’
Reflecting on the way he delivers occupational therapy and Hearteningly he exclaims: ‘These game sessions increased the
quality of life I had in hospital. The greatest thing about the group
was the environment that it produced, which gave a sense of
excitement and hope; it was positive to my emotional state.’
Some months into Jerome’s stay on the rehabilitation ward he
started to have his own ideas and became involved with alternative
occupational therapy activities.
‘I got involved with the Recovery College, which is a forum
where people receive educational lessons about subjects to do with
mental health and wellbeing, he states.
Jerome entered the ‘train the trainers’ workshop and qualified
as a peer trainer, which means that he is now able to develop
workshops and present courses.
‘Taking part in that experience was amazing,’ he says. ‘The fact
that I was able to qualify as something in a forensic hospital was
something that truly stood out to me; it helped massively with self-
esteem and motivation.’
After he completed the course, he put his name down for three
the health benefits to the individual, Josip adds: ‘Often, from the
occupational therapists’ initial meetings, I get a referral based on a
person’s interest, or even passion for something.
‘My job is to amplify those interests and skills. I carefully evaluate
a person’s potential and try to provide a tailor-made workshop plan,
which will hopefully serve as a springboard.
‘I am trying to provide a stimulating environment in which
patients can reach their optimum. I believe that a fundamental
element of human nature is a need for creative work – in any area
of human activities – therefore it is essential that we provide an
environment in which this human characteristic is realised and hope
for full recovery is maximised.’
Later in Jerome’s stay on the Effra Ward, he was introduced to a
modern board gaming session, led another occupational therapist,
which proved to be extremely successful.
He says: ‘These sessions became the highlight of my week,
as we were given food and a welcoming environment; on one
occasion there was a Japanese theme, which included sushi and
wasabi peas, while we played two games from the Orient.
‘The games were strategic and involved a great deal of
independent thought and different types of thinking skills, such as
organisation and long-term planning and bartering.’ further courses; the creative skills video, the introduction to recovery
course, and the spirituality and recovery course.
‘I co-produced and co-facilitated the introduction to recovery
course, which allowed me to sit in a forum and practise skills such
as negotiation and contributing in a professional setting,’ he reflects.
‘After a while I decided to suggest two courses that I came up
with – sociology behind violence and problem solving skills.’
Excitingly both courses were accepted and Jerome went on to
coproduce the sociology behind violence course alongside another
service user and two other staff.
‘This experience taught me leadership qualities and how to
organise contributions from other people,’ he says. ‘This was in
relation to mental health, self-esteem and a sense of self, alongside
technical skills, which are all interlinked with cognition, stress
management and emotional wellbeing.’
Miriam Pucyutan, occupational therapist, clinical specialist and
Recovery College forensic campus lead, explains: ‘Our college
offers a learning approach that complements the existing services
provided by the trust. Co-production is at the heart of everything
we do.
‘Every course and workshop we offer is co-designed
and co-run by trainers with lived experience working
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