Preparing for community living
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Occupational therapists Clodagh O ’ Farrell and Fiona Batty reflect on developing a group to prepare patients for community living
The Moving On group is an intervention developed by two occupational therapists based at Cygnet Oaks , a high dependency rehabilitation hospital for adult men recovering from mental illness . The group is aimed at patients who are preparing for discharge from inpatient treatment back into the community .
Through their work with several patients who were preparing for discharge on an individual basis , it was recognised that similar themes were being raised by the patients , who were all experiencing high levels of anxiety and fear about the future and seeking support from occupational therapy to feel more prepared for living in the community .
It was therefore felt that the service needed a more effective and efficient way to support them .
A review of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ( NICE ) guidance on discharge from inpatient mental health services to community or care home support ( NICE 2017 ) found that , for people being discharged from hospital , a groupbased , peer-delivered , self-management programme should be considered as part of their recovery planning .
Thus , the authors began work on developing a group that would not only teach patients the skills and knowledge to prepare them for community living , but would also provide much-needed peer support and the opportunity to share experiences .
The group was developed under consideration of three themes : promoting growth , empowerment and enabling co-production .
32 OTnews October 2021