Homelessness
Rosalyn Daly shares how occupational therapists and social workers jointly organised and delivered a festive event with an occupational focus for Luton ’ s homeless population .
Homelessness
Feature
Working collaboratively to support the local community
Rosalyn Daly shares how occupational therapists and social workers jointly organised and delivered a festive event with an occupational focus for Luton ’ s homeless population .
O
ccupational therapists and social workers within the community mental health team ( CMHT ) in Luton have been considering the current cost of living crisis for many people , including our services users who have mental health difficulties .
An idea was sparked in conversation in October 2022 , around ways to give back to the local community during the festive season . Occupational therapists Charlotte and Rosalyn , alongside social worker Katrice , felt it was important to organise an event for the local community , particularly in the lead up to Christmas 2022 ; a time that can be difficult for many people .
And so , a project team was formed to organise and deliver a Christmas Self-Care Shoe Box Appeal .
Student nurses and student social workers helped with planning and organising the appeal and event , with support from occupational therapist manager Yinka and community mental health operational lead Janet .
Supporting those most in need
As we organised the event alongside our busy caseloads , we decided that it would be best to focus on those most in need in the local community of Luton .
While trying to ascertain what the acute inequalities in Luton might be , the project team discovered a report from Shelter ( 2021 ) that stated : ‘ Outside of London , Luton is the area with the highest rate of homelessness , with one in 66 people homeless ’.
This is a shocking and saddening statistic and consequently the project team decided to focus on the homeless population .
We collaborated with NOAH Enterprise , a Luton based charity that support people struggling with homelessness and exclusion . We also established connections with the Rough Sleepers Team within the East London Foundation Trust ( ELFT ), to target those people who are specifically under the community mental health teams and homeless , so that there is a mental health focus .
As occupational therapists , our intention was to keep an occupational focus for the event ; so we decided to request donations of self-care and meaningful activity items , wrapped in a festive shoebox or gift bag .
We specified that brand new products were required , to provide a gift experience to convey the message that the recipients are valued and deserving , to promote their wellbeing and a sense of inclusion .
Festive gifts were thoughtfully chosen and donated by colleagues within the trust and their family and friends . Donations included chocolates , essential items , activities such as a word search and hand-written Christmas cards .
The project team also consulted with the management at NOAH Enterprise to establish what the key items required for the community might be .
Katrice developed the project further by including a social worker perspective , involving Razors Barbers from Houghton Regis , to generously provide free haircuts , which linked into the self-care theme .
56 OTnews September 2023