MENTAL HEALTH FEATURE
‘ This kept some continuity of care for Jason and has been a way of supporting and encouraging him , as well as monitoring his mental health throughout the pandemic and lockdown period . Near Me has allowed me to provide occupational therapy to the patient within the comfort and safety of his own home .’
From Jason ’ s perspective , he says : ‘ Going into lockdown was fraught with worry and anxiety , but I was obviously not alone in this , as COVID-19 has impacted the whole world and has had such a profound impact on all our lives .
‘ I was terrified by the fear of what this would mean for my work with the occupational therapy service I have been engaging in . I have a lot of fears and anxieties surrounding social encounters , so before COVID-19 , I was working on alleviating my fears of being in shops and supermarkets with the support of my occupational therapist and support worker .’
Jason explains that he has ‘ issues surrounding being abandoned ’, therefore a big fear of his was thinking of how COVID-19 would affect his participation with occupational therapy . ‘ I was terrified that I ’ d be discharged and our work would be cut short , due to more pertinent issues that might arise for the occupational therapists to engage in because of the pandemic ,’ he says .
‘ I know [ that ] sounds extremely selfish , but when dealing with such intense fears and emotions that arise due to my issue , it affects my thoughts and behaviours significantly ,’ he reflects .
‘ My occupational therapist allayed those fears , while being open with me about how we could adapt with the current restrictions in place . Obviously in the current climate I can ’ t work on challenging my fears about being in supermarkets or shops , but there were still issues that I could work on , and that brings me to food preparation .
‘ Unfortunately , I haven ’ t learned how to cook , due to my life circumstances , and have many fears surrounding this , so my occupational therapist and I thought it would be good to work on this through the medium of video calling .’
Together Jason and Lesley first clarified what those fears were and validated them , and then they went through them , so that he felt ready to try the new approach . ‘ We worked on fears such as my self-consciousness , to fears about the video call itself , and how it would practically work ,’ he says .
Those fears were around the WiFi connection failing , or a delay and the interaction becoming messy , and what would happen if Jason encountered something he couldn ’ t do during food preparation and he didn ’ t have somebody physically there with him to help .
‘ These were all valid fears , and I felt better having gone through them with my occupational therapist ,’ he says .
‘ Everything was explained to me in relation to setting the connection up , as that was also a worry at the start , and my occupational therapist went through all the relevant health and safety measures relating to food preparation ,’ he reflects .
‘ We have been doing food preparation through video calling for around four weeks now and I have learned how to make and cook meals such as pasta , mince and potatoes , omelette and pasta bolognese .
‘ My occupational therapist has guided me throughout the cooking process , while trying to keep me calm during it all , as I tend to get a bit panicky with things . And , it has actually worked very well through video calling . We haven ’ t had many issues in relation to the connection , although it can always improve .’
Jason adds : ‘ We went through the cooking process step by step , from clarifying what ingredients I needed , what utensils I would need , and my occupational therapist guided me through the method of cooking for whichever meal I would be cooking . ‘ She kept me safe by advising me when she noticed any health and safety issues that arose , such as when I unwittingly stirred food without holding the handle of the pan .
‘ Not only have I learned to cook these meals , I have tried to develop these skills on my own . Not with cooking something new , as I ’ m a bit too anxious for that at the moment – although engaging with food preparation is giving me more confidence to try cooking new things – but I have been cooking meals such as omelette and pasta in my own time , therefore I have incorporated some of these meals into my healthy eating plan .’
At the end of the day , Jason feels that the experience of developing his cooking skills through video calling and in lockdown ‘ has been a very rewarding one ’.
He concludes : ‘ It has been beneficial for me to connect with cooking with the support of my occupational therapist , as it has made me feel productive at a time where mental health issues could easily overwhelm people who were mentally healthy pre-lockdown , never mind somebody like me , who already struggles with mental health issues and is susceptible to those very issues .
‘ Another aspect in regard to lockdown is the detachment from people , and for somebody like me who has always struggled with social contact , it was always important to me to have face-to-face appointments , so I could experience that human connection first hand , as I ’ m somebody who struggles to obtain human connection in my personal life . I somehow feel safer and more comfortable with mental health professionals .
‘ Just meeting up with a therapist for a one-hour interaction can be extremely beneficial to a service user , and that ’ s a very fundamental thing in regard to mental health issues , as the main part of my work surrounded challenging my social anxiety .
‘ And , I have been so grateful that , throughout lockdown , the medium of video calling has been there and I have been having that weekly contact with my occupational therapist . Video calling isn ’ t the same as face-to-face , but it still provides you with a level of human connection .’
Lesley-Anne Frazer is a specialist occupational therapist with the Community Mental Health Team in Lanarkshire . * Not the patient ’ s real name
OTnews December 2020 43