The government has " underestimated" the cost of delivering free social care, council chiefs say.
A poll of some 61 directors of social services has suggested providing care to those most in need can costs £200 a week this is almost double the government's current bench mark figure .
The poll estimate that people who fall into the most critical bracket need six and a half hours of care, but the evidence provided by the survey suggests it is double that.
It means in blunt figures that councils would have to find more than £500m a year - on top of the £420m provided by government - to fund the new scheme if it comes into place in the autumn as forecast.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
‘Bedlam' exhibition
For anyone interested in the history of mental health can I recommend the ‘Bedlam' exhibition which traces the meandering history of mental health
The exhibition, Lost London: Forgotten Places, Forgotten People, is at the ¬Gallery, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3B, until 12 February, 2010. or look at bethlemgallery.com
The exhibition, Lost London: Forgotten Places, Forgotten People, is at the ¬Gallery, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3B, until 12 February, 2010. or look at bethlemgallery.com
Monday, January 25, 2010
Mercy Killings and assisted suicide
Mercy killing mother cleared after helping daughter die
'Why did this come to court?' judge asks as jury clear Kay Gilderdale of murder in just two hours
Jolly good question ! I think we all agree its time the laws relating to assisted suicide were reviewed .
I accept that there are strong arguments on both sides of the debate but its quite clear the current policy is no longer tenable .
May be after the General Election an open and honest debate on the issue can be had ?
'Why did this come to court?' judge asks as jury clear Kay Gilderdale of murder in just two hours
Jolly good question ! I think we all agree its time the laws relating to assisted suicide were reviewed .
I accept that there are strong arguments on both sides of the debate but its quite clear the current policy is no longer tenable .
May be after the General Election an open and honest debate on the issue can be had ?
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The case for investment in preventive cost care
The case for investment in preventive cost care
We have had it: pilot-tested, fully lean costed, independently evaluated, and now its cast-iron evidence that investment in preventive social care services is highly cost effective , it more than pays for itself in savings to the NHS .
Indeed as an example for every £1 spent on such services to support older people, hospitals save £1.20 in spending on emergency beds. .
So can we now look forward to a plethora of robust policies from government and local authorities ? I rather think not !
We have had it: pilot-tested, fully lean costed, independently evaluated, and now its cast-iron evidence that investment in preventive social care services is highly cost effective , it more than pays for itself in savings to the NHS .
Indeed as an example for every £1 spent on such services to support older people, hospitals save £1.20 in spending on emergency beds. .
So can we now look forward to a plethora of robust policies from government and local authorities ? I rather think not !
Monday, January 18, 2010
Priory Group MH Statistics
I have picked up the following from the pages of the Guardian newspaper
'The Priory Health Group has developed a reputation as the rehab clinic frequented by actors and popstars seeking treatment for drug or alcohol addiction.
But the company claims that more than 2.9 million people in the UK are diagnosed as having depression at any one time, and as many as one in three people will be affected by depression at some point in their lives. The clinics specialise in treating disorders including anorexia, anxiety, behavioural difficulties and phobias, as well as offering advice for "depression sufferers at Christmas" and organising courses on issues such as "psychosexual emergencies". '
The UK Government figure is one in five people may suffer from depression yet this go-ahead private company thinks and is basing its business plan on a figure of one in three is a more realistic figure !
'The Priory Health Group has developed a reputation as the rehab clinic frequented by actors and popstars seeking treatment for drug or alcohol addiction.
But the company claims that more than 2.9 million people in the UK are diagnosed as having depression at any one time, and as many as one in three people will be affected by depression at some point in their lives. The clinics specialise in treating disorders including anorexia, anxiety, behavioural difficulties and phobias, as well as offering advice for "depression sufferers at Christmas" and organising courses on issues such as "psychosexual emergencies". '
The UK Government figure is one in five people may suffer from depression yet this go-ahead private company thinks and is basing its business plan on a figure of one in three is a more realistic figure !
Sunday, January 17, 2010
ESA
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING FROM CAREWATCH A GREAT CARERS ORG , THEIR WEB SITE IS
HTTP://CARERWATCH.COM
GENERAL ELECTION - RESTORE UNCONDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR THE SEVERELY SICK
+ THE WELFARE REFORM BILL - MENTAL HEALTH - CW BLOG
january 7th, 2010
CARERWATCH ARE FIGHTING TO RESTORE UNCONDITIONAL BENEFITS TO ALL PEOPLE WITH SEVERE AND ENDURING ILLNESS. IN PARTICULAR CARERWATCH WANT THE THREAT OF SANCTIONS AND CONDITIONALITY under ESA REMOVED FROM PEOPLE WITH SEVERE AND ENDURING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ALLOCATING THEM TO THE ‘SUPPORT’ GROUP.
We are asking all Prospective Parliamentary Candidiates to support this campaign and thank all those who are supporting us
Please e-mail your local candidates and ask them to support us and sign.
This is not a broad campaign tackling all the problems in the new Welfare Reform Bills - it is just an emergency action to protect the most sick and the most vulnerable who have been caught up in these reforms.
Come and help with this campaign
HTTP://CARERWATCH.COM
GENERAL ELECTION - RESTORE UNCONDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR THE SEVERELY SICK
+ THE WELFARE REFORM BILL - MENTAL HEALTH - CW BLOG
january 7th, 2010
CARERWATCH ARE FIGHTING TO RESTORE UNCONDITIONAL BENEFITS TO ALL PEOPLE WITH SEVERE AND ENDURING ILLNESS. IN PARTICULAR CARERWATCH WANT THE THREAT OF SANCTIONS AND CONDITIONALITY under ESA REMOVED FROM PEOPLE WITH SEVERE AND ENDURING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ALLOCATING THEM TO THE ‘SUPPORT’ GROUP.
We are asking all Prospective Parliamentary Candidiates to support this campaign and thank all those who are supporting us
Please e-mail your local candidates and ask them to support us and sign.
This is not a broad campaign tackling all the problems in the new Welfare Reform Bills - it is just an emergency action to protect the most sick and the most vulnerable who have been caught up in these reforms.
Come and help with this campaign
Friday, January 15, 2010
Some statistics on carers
Read and weep ! you could soon be one of these statistics !
The last full census showed some 5.2 million carers in England and Wales, including over a million providing more than 50 hours a week.
Over 225,000 people providing 50 or more hours of unpaid care per week state they are in 'not good health' themselves. More than half of the people providing this much care are over the age of 55, and it is at these ages that the 'not good health' rate is highest.
However, there are nearly 80,000 people aged 54 and under providing more than 50 hours of unpaid care per week, who state that their health was not good.
The age group where the largest proportion of people provide care is in the fifties. More than one-in-five of people aged 50-59 are providing some unpaid care. About one in four (24.6 per cent) women in this age group are providing some care compared with 17.9 per cent of men.
Many of the people providing care do paid work as well. Of the 15.2 million employees aged 16-74 in full-time work, 1.6 million are providing at least some unpaid care - 144,000 providing 50 or more hours a week. For full-time workers providing 50 or more hours care there is a larger proportion of men.
Of the nearly two million people aged 16-74 who are permanently sick or disabled, over a quarter of a million (273,000) provide some unpaid care for other people and 105,000 provide 50 or more hours care.
The last full census showed some 5.2 million carers in England and Wales, including over a million providing more than 50 hours a week.
Over 225,000 people providing 50 or more hours of unpaid care per week state they are in 'not good health' themselves. More than half of the people providing this much care are over the age of 55, and it is at these ages that the 'not good health' rate is highest.
However, there are nearly 80,000 people aged 54 and under providing more than 50 hours of unpaid care per week, who state that their health was not good.
The age group where the largest proportion of people provide care is in the fifties. More than one-in-five of people aged 50-59 are providing some unpaid care. About one in four (24.6 per cent) women in this age group are providing some care compared with 17.9 per cent of men.
Many of the people providing care do paid work as well. Of the 15.2 million employees aged 16-74 in full-time work, 1.6 million are providing at least some unpaid care - 144,000 providing 50 or more hours a week. For full-time workers providing 50 or more hours care there is a larger proportion of men.
Of the nearly two million people aged 16-74 who are permanently sick or disabled, over a quarter of a million (273,000) provide some unpaid care for other people and 105,000 provide 50 or more hours care.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Dementia services in England
According to the National Audit Office report just released , Dementia services in England are not getting the priority that was promised>
Now there's a surprise to us all !!!!.
The NAO urges the Department of Health to robustly demonstrate that its dementia strategy, published last year, is not just words.
The plans include action to boost early diagnosis and better patient and carer support. The NAO praises the ambition but asks whether they can be delivered.
Well we know the answer to that one NO , this is another policy that promises lots but delivers nothing .
Come on HMG Less talk more action !
Now there's a surprise to us all !!!!.
The NAO urges the Department of Health to robustly demonstrate that its dementia strategy, published last year, is not just words.
The plans include action to boost early diagnosis and better patient and carer support. The NAO praises the ambition but asks whether they can be delivered.
Well we know the answer to that one NO , this is another policy that promises lots but delivers nothing .
Come on HMG Less talk more action !
A slightly different blog re Autism
A slightly different blog , two charming ladies who write interactive books for children with autism , whom I have been blessed to become friends with , one of whom is a carer and she has asked the following of her friends on Facebook
Please put this on your status if you know someone (or are related to someone) who has AUTISM. My wish for 2010 is that people will understand autism is not a disease; people with autism are not looking for a cure but for ACCEPTANCE...... 93% won't Copy and Paste this, but will YOU make this your status for at least one hour ?
So why blog this you ask , well its simple - Here is someone who truly cares about others and is not ashamed to let people know she cares if only we could all be so brave and open .
Please put this on your status if you know someone (or are related to someone) who has AUTISM. My wish for 2010 is that people will understand autism is not a disease; people with autism are not looking for a cure but for ACCEPTANCE...... 93% won't Copy and Paste this, but will YOU make this your status for at least one hour ?
So why blog this you ask , well its simple - Here is someone who truly cares about others and is not ashamed to let people know she cares if only we could all be so brave and open .
Monday, January 11, 2010
Child protection system is failing neglected children
The following is from The Guardian newspaper its a sobering article that raises many issues that we as a society really do need to address as a matter of urgency .
The mental health / well-being issues alone makes one shudder !
One of the UK's leading children's charities has issued a warning that the child protection system is failing neglected children , more often than not with fatal consequences, this despite the number of children being placed on protection plans for neglect rising by almost 30% in five years.
Neglect can take many forms, such as withholding water and food from a child, depriving them of play, barring them from attending school or keeping them in badly heated rooms in filthy clothes. Research suggests it is often closely linked to – sometimes a major factor in – cases involving child mortality. Neglect in early life has also been blamed for causing later developmental and mental-health problems.
In 2005, 13,200 children in England were on such a plan. Figures show this increased to 16,900 last year – more than double the number of children who were on protection plans because of fears they were being physically or sexually abused.
The NSPCC said it was concerned that social workers were failing to act when they came across children who were showing signs of neglect. Research into the deaths of neglected children suggests that the average length of time between the first concern of neglect being raised and the child's demise is 13 months.
The NSPCC research was based on a sample of an Ofsted analysis into the deaths of 174 children last year, which found neglect at some point in the lives of 50 of those who had died. Most cases involved children under six years old. Ten babies died of sudden unexpected death in infancy, of whom seven were known to children's services. Many of the deaths of neglected children were linked to parental alcohol and drug abuse.
"Neglect is a neglected problem," said Diana Sutton, head of policy and public affairs at the NSPCC. "The problem is that neglect cases tend just to drift. There is a need to strike a balance between keeping the family together and taking the children away."
The NSPCC claims that there is a "skill gap" among professionals working with cases of neglect. It says many are ill-equipped to deal with early signs of neglect and as a result sometimes it is not until children are abused before formal intervention takes place. One of the cases examined by the NSPCC was that of three-year-old Tiffany Wright from Sheffield, who starved to death after being left locked in a bedroom above the pub run by her mother and stepfather.
A court heard that Tiffany's mother, Sabrina Hirst, 22, who was jailed for 12 years after admitting manslaughter, showed more concern for the family's pet dog than her daughter. Concerns that Tiffany was being neglected were first raised by a midwife in October 2006. A letter from social services was sent to the family, but there was no follow-up home visit by social workers. Tiffany died in September 2007.
The NSPCC is calling for the government to give child protection teams clear time-lines for parents to improve the care of their children. It suggests that if there is insufficient improvement within a set period, which would typically be 90 days, social workers should consider taking action to remove the child from the family. A government-endorsed report into child protection, written by Lord Laming, has recommended that "realistic time scales need to be applied to ensure that a child is not subjected to long-term neglect".
The NSPCC will launch a campaign to make tackling neglect a higher political priority at the next election. "One of our concerns is that frontline child protection will experience cuts or a freeze," Sutton said. "As an issue, it has come off the political agenda since the public panic over Baby P."
There are calls for the courts to take a tougher line on child neglect. The Law Commission has proposed that courts should have the power to jail parents convicted of child neglect for life, rather than the current 10-year maximum.
The government has six months to respond to the proposals.
The mental health / well-being issues alone makes one shudder !
One of the UK's leading children's charities has issued a warning that the child protection system is failing neglected children , more often than not with fatal consequences, this despite the number of children being placed on protection plans for neglect rising by almost 30% in five years.
Neglect can take many forms, such as withholding water and food from a child, depriving them of play, barring them from attending school or keeping them in badly heated rooms in filthy clothes. Research suggests it is often closely linked to – sometimes a major factor in – cases involving child mortality. Neglect in early life has also been blamed for causing later developmental and mental-health problems.
In 2005, 13,200 children in England were on such a plan. Figures show this increased to 16,900 last year – more than double the number of children who were on protection plans because of fears they were being physically or sexually abused.
The NSPCC said it was concerned that social workers were failing to act when they came across children who were showing signs of neglect. Research into the deaths of neglected children suggests that the average length of time between the first concern of neglect being raised and the child's demise is 13 months.
The NSPCC research was based on a sample of an Ofsted analysis into the deaths of 174 children last year, which found neglect at some point in the lives of 50 of those who had died. Most cases involved children under six years old. Ten babies died of sudden unexpected death in infancy, of whom seven were known to children's services. Many of the deaths of neglected children were linked to parental alcohol and drug abuse.
"Neglect is a neglected problem," said Diana Sutton, head of policy and public affairs at the NSPCC. "The problem is that neglect cases tend just to drift. There is a need to strike a balance between keeping the family together and taking the children away."
The NSPCC claims that there is a "skill gap" among professionals working with cases of neglect. It says many are ill-equipped to deal with early signs of neglect and as a result sometimes it is not until children are abused before formal intervention takes place. One of the cases examined by the NSPCC was that of three-year-old Tiffany Wright from Sheffield, who starved to death after being left locked in a bedroom above the pub run by her mother and stepfather.
A court heard that Tiffany's mother, Sabrina Hirst, 22, who was jailed for 12 years after admitting manslaughter, showed more concern for the family's pet dog than her daughter. Concerns that Tiffany was being neglected were first raised by a midwife in October 2006. A letter from social services was sent to the family, but there was no follow-up home visit by social workers. Tiffany died in September 2007.
The NSPCC is calling for the government to give child protection teams clear time-lines for parents to improve the care of their children. It suggests that if there is insufficient improvement within a set period, which would typically be 90 days, social workers should consider taking action to remove the child from the family. A government-endorsed report into child protection, written by Lord Laming, has recommended that "realistic time scales need to be applied to ensure that a child is not subjected to long-term neglect".
The NSPCC will launch a campaign to make tackling neglect a higher political priority at the next election. "One of our concerns is that frontline child protection will experience cuts or a freeze," Sutton said. "As an issue, it has come off the political agenda since the public panic over Baby P."
There are calls for the courts to take a tougher line on child neglect. The Law Commission has proposed that courts should have the power to jail parents convicted of child neglect for life, rather than the current 10-year maximum.
The government has six months to respond to the proposals.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Human Trafficking Awareness Day
Willingly no one chooses the yoke of slavery. - Aeschylus
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and I ask you all to take a moment to look into the seriousness of this problem, and realize that is effects all countries, all races, all religions, all ages and sexes.
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and I ask you all to take a moment to look into the seriousness of this problem, and realize that is effects all countries, all races, all religions, all ages and sexes.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The healing power of books should be taken as read
I came across the following article in the Guardian and think its well worth a read , its another good example of art /music / literature as a tool in mental well being .
Why a forensic psychiatrist describes the Get Into Reading project as the most significant development in mental health practice in the last 10 years
It's my life Clare Allan
The Guardian,
On Friday (8 January), I'm going to Liverpool to take part in a conference organised by Get Into Reading, a hugely inspiring outreach programme run by The Reader Organisation, a charity dedicated to nothing less than bringing about "a reading revolution".
Get Into Reading is the brainchild of Jane Davis, founder and director of the Reader Organisation. As an 18-year-old single mother living on benefits, Davis discovered her local library, and never looked back. She believes that "books can save lives" – believes it so passionately that she has, in less than 10 years, created an extraordinary movement, with 150 groups now meeting weekly in hospitals, prisons, refugee centres, children's homes, libraries, YMCAs, day centres and homes for older people. They are spread throughout the north-west and London, with more springing up around the UK and a recent commission to develop the project in Australia.
These are not "book groups", where people come together to discuss a book they've read; they are reading groups, led by trained Get Into Reading project workers, who read the texts aloud, with group members joining in as much or as little as they wish. Interruptions are encouraged and often lead to spontaneous sharing of life experience.
Texts read include novels, short stories, poems, plays and works of non-fiction. And there's no dumbing down: Shakespeare, Chekhov and Milton have all been devoured, as well as works by contemporary writers such as Mitch Albom and Frank Cottrell Boyce.
This is what I find most exciting, and unusual, about Get Into Reading. It's the opening up of great literature, giving it back to the people who need it. And while nothing is prescribed, or proscribed, the emphasis is on "great" literature – Tolstoy, say, rather than Agatha Christie.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Agatha Christie, but neither is it snobbish to insist that Anna Karenina offers more to the reader in terms of enrichment than Murder on the Orient Express. The problem comes when such distinctions serve to make people feel that great literature isn't for them, that it belongs to academics in English departments, the north London literati, or even just the so-called "educated". Jane Davis left school at 16 with two GCSEs.
That's why I think the term "revolution" is wholly appropriate. The storming of what Doris Lessing has described as "a treasure house of literature" is every bit as significant as the storming of the Winter Palace. Time was I might have thought this an overstatement. We have free public libraries, after all. There is nothing to stop people reading great books. Or is there?
As a child of academic parents, it would never have occurred to me that I needed permission to read any book (TV was a different matter), but the mental health system is packed with people who have suffered their whole lives from the failure of others to recognise and respond to them as thinking, feeling, intelligent human beings. Parents, teachers and society in general have repeatedly reinforced the message that the doors to the treasure house are barred to the likes of them. Unfortunately, much mental health treatment does little to challenge it.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is starting to change. David Fearnley, a forensic psychiatrist at Ashworth high security hospital on Merseyside, runs a Get Into Reading group with patients. Books read include (delightfully) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Fearnley – the Royal College of Psychiatrists' 2009 Psychiatrist of the Year – is unambiguous about the benefits. "Get Into Reading is one of the most significant developments to have taken place in Mersey Care NHS trust and mental health practice in the last 10 years," he says.
Last word, though, should go to a dementia sufferer, who commented on reading poetry: "It moves you. I mean, it hits you inside where it meets you and means something." It's a line the greatest of literary greats would rightly be proud to come up with.
• Clare Allan is an author and writes on mental health issues. Details of Get Into Reading at thereader.org.uk
Why a forensic psychiatrist describes the Get Into Reading project as the most significant development in mental health practice in the last 10 years
It's my life Clare Allan
The Guardian,
On Friday (8 January), I'm going to Liverpool to take part in a conference organised by Get Into Reading, a hugely inspiring outreach programme run by The Reader Organisation, a charity dedicated to nothing less than bringing about "a reading revolution".
Get Into Reading is the brainchild of Jane Davis, founder and director of the Reader Organisation. As an 18-year-old single mother living on benefits, Davis discovered her local library, and never looked back. She believes that "books can save lives" – believes it so passionately that she has, in less than 10 years, created an extraordinary movement, with 150 groups now meeting weekly in hospitals, prisons, refugee centres, children's homes, libraries, YMCAs, day centres and homes for older people. They are spread throughout the north-west and London, with more springing up around the UK and a recent commission to develop the project in Australia.
These are not "book groups", where people come together to discuss a book they've read; they are reading groups, led by trained Get Into Reading project workers, who read the texts aloud, with group members joining in as much or as little as they wish. Interruptions are encouraged and often lead to spontaneous sharing of life experience.
Texts read include novels, short stories, poems, plays and works of non-fiction. And there's no dumbing down: Shakespeare, Chekhov and Milton have all been devoured, as well as works by contemporary writers such as Mitch Albom and Frank Cottrell Boyce.
This is what I find most exciting, and unusual, about Get Into Reading. It's the opening up of great literature, giving it back to the people who need it. And while nothing is prescribed, or proscribed, the emphasis is on "great" literature – Tolstoy, say, rather than Agatha Christie.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Agatha Christie, but neither is it snobbish to insist that Anna Karenina offers more to the reader in terms of enrichment than Murder on the Orient Express. The problem comes when such distinctions serve to make people feel that great literature isn't for them, that it belongs to academics in English departments, the north London literati, or even just the so-called "educated". Jane Davis left school at 16 with two GCSEs.
That's why I think the term "revolution" is wholly appropriate. The storming of what Doris Lessing has described as "a treasure house of literature" is every bit as significant as the storming of the Winter Palace. Time was I might have thought this an overstatement. We have free public libraries, after all. There is nothing to stop people reading great books. Or is there?
As a child of academic parents, it would never have occurred to me that I needed permission to read any book (TV was a different matter), but the mental health system is packed with people who have suffered their whole lives from the failure of others to recognise and respond to them as thinking, feeling, intelligent human beings. Parents, teachers and society in general have repeatedly reinforced the message that the doors to the treasure house are barred to the likes of them. Unfortunately, much mental health treatment does little to challenge it.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is starting to change. David Fearnley, a forensic psychiatrist at Ashworth high security hospital on Merseyside, runs a Get Into Reading group with patients. Books read include (delightfully) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Fearnley – the Royal College of Psychiatrists' 2009 Psychiatrist of the Year – is unambiguous about the benefits. "Get Into Reading is one of the most significant developments to have taken place in Mersey Care NHS trust and mental health practice in the last 10 years," he says.
Last word, though, should go to a dementia sufferer, who commented on reading poetry: "It moves you. I mean, it hits you inside where it meets you and means something." It's a line the greatest of literary greats would rightly be proud to come up with.
• Clare Allan is an author and writes on mental health issues. Details of Get Into Reading at thereader.org.uk
The healing power of books should be taken as read
I came across the following article in the Guardian and think its well worth aread
Why a forensic psychiatrist describes the Get Into Reading project as the most significant development in mental health practice in the last 10 years
It's my life Clare Allan
The Guardian,
On Friday (8 January), I'm going to Liverpool to take part in a conference organised by Get Into Reading, a hugely inspiring outreach programme run by The Reader Organisation, a charity dedicated to nothing less than bringing about "a reading revolution".
Get Into Reading is the brainchild of Jane Davis, founder and director of the Reader Organisation. As an 18-year-old single mother living on benefits, Davis discovered her local library, and never looked back. She believes that "books can save lives" – believes it so passionately that she has, in less than 10 years, created an extraordinary movement, with 150 groups now meeting weekly in hospitals, prisons, refugee centres, children's homes, libraries, YMCAs, day centres and homes for older people. They are spread throughout the north-west and London, with more springing up around the UK and a recent commission to develop the project in Australia.
These are not "book groups", where people come together to discuss a book they've read; they are reading groups, led by trained Get Into Reading project workers, who read the texts aloud, with group members joining in as much or as little as they wish. Interruptions are encouraged and often lead to spontaneous sharing of life experience.
Texts read include novels, short stories, poems, plays and works of non-fiction. And there's no dumbing down: Shakespeare, Chekhov and Milton have all been devoured, as well as works by contemporary writers such as Mitch Albom and Frank Cottrell Boyce.
This is what I find most exciting, and unusual, about Get Into Reading. It's the opening up of great literature, giving it back to the people who need it. And while nothing is prescribed, or proscribed, the emphasis is on "great" literature – Tolstoy, say, rather than Agatha Christie.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Agatha Christie, but neither is it snobbish to insist that Anna Karenina offers more to the reader in terms of enrichment than Murder on the Orient Express. The problem comes when such distinctions serve to make people feel that great literature isn't for them, that it belongs to academics in English departments, the north London literati, or even just the so-called "educated". Jane Davis left school at 16 with two GCSEs.
That's why I think the term "revolution" is wholly appropriate. The storming of what Doris Lessing has described as "a treasure house of literature" is every bit as significant as the storming of the Winter Palace. Time was I might have thought this an overstatement. We have free public libraries, after all. There is nothing to stop people reading great books. Or is there?
As a child of academic parents, it would never have occurred to me that I needed permission to read any book (TV was a different matter), but the mental health system is packed with people who have suffered their whole lives from the failure of others to recognise and respond to them as thinking, feeling, intelligent human beings. Parents, teachers and society in general have repeatedly reinforced the message that the doors to the treasure house are barred to the likes of them. Unfortunately, much mental health treatment does little to challenge it.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is starting to change. David Fearnley, a forensic psychiatrist at Ashworth high security hospital on Merseyside, runs a Get Into Reading group with patients. Books read include (delightfully) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Fearnley – the Royal College of Psychiatrists' 2009 Psychiatrist of the Year – is unambiguous about the benefits. "Get Into Reading is one of the most significant developments to have taken place in Mersey Care NHS trust and mental health practice in the last 10 years," he says.
Last word, though, should go to a dementia sufferer, who commented on reading poetry: "It moves you. I mean, it hits you inside where it meets you and means something." It's a line the greatest of literary greats would rightly be proud to come up with.
• Clare Allan is an author and writes on mental health issues. Details of Get Into Reading at thereader.org.uk
Why a forensic psychiatrist describes the Get Into Reading project as the most significant development in mental health practice in the last 10 years
It's my life Clare Allan
The Guardian,
On Friday (8 January), I'm going to Liverpool to take part in a conference organised by Get Into Reading, a hugely inspiring outreach programme run by The Reader Organisation, a charity dedicated to nothing less than bringing about "a reading revolution".
Get Into Reading is the brainchild of Jane Davis, founder and director of the Reader Organisation. As an 18-year-old single mother living on benefits, Davis discovered her local library, and never looked back. She believes that "books can save lives" – believes it so passionately that she has, in less than 10 years, created an extraordinary movement, with 150 groups now meeting weekly in hospitals, prisons, refugee centres, children's homes, libraries, YMCAs, day centres and homes for older people. They are spread throughout the north-west and London, with more springing up around the UK and a recent commission to develop the project in Australia.
These are not "book groups", where people come together to discuss a book they've read; they are reading groups, led by trained Get Into Reading project workers, who read the texts aloud, with group members joining in as much or as little as they wish. Interruptions are encouraged and often lead to spontaneous sharing of life experience.
Texts read include novels, short stories, poems, plays and works of non-fiction. And there's no dumbing down: Shakespeare, Chekhov and Milton have all been devoured, as well as works by contemporary writers such as Mitch Albom and Frank Cottrell Boyce.
This is what I find most exciting, and unusual, about Get Into Reading. It's the opening up of great literature, giving it back to the people who need it. And while nothing is prescribed, or proscribed, the emphasis is on "great" literature – Tolstoy, say, rather than Agatha Christie.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Agatha Christie, but neither is it snobbish to insist that Anna Karenina offers more to the reader in terms of enrichment than Murder on the Orient Express. The problem comes when such distinctions serve to make people feel that great literature isn't for them, that it belongs to academics in English departments, the north London literati, or even just the so-called "educated". Jane Davis left school at 16 with two GCSEs.
That's why I think the term "revolution" is wholly appropriate. The storming of what Doris Lessing has described as "a treasure house of literature" is every bit as significant as the storming of the Winter Palace. Time was I might have thought this an overstatement. We have free public libraries, after all. There is nothing to stop people reading great books. Or is there?
As a child of academic parents, it would never have occurred to me that I needed permission to read any book (TV was a different matter), but the mental health system is packed with people who have suffered their whole lives from the failure of others to recognise and respond to them as thinking, feeling, intelligent human beings. Parents, teachers and society in general have repeatedly reinforced the message that the doors to the treasure house are barred to the likes of them. Unfortunately, much mental health treatment does little to challenge it.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is starting to change. David Fearnley, a forensic psychiatrist at Ashworth high security hospital on Merseyside, runs a Get Into Reading group with patients. Books read include (delightfully) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Fearnley – the Royal College of Psychiatrists' 2009 Psychiatrist of the Year – is unambiguous about the benefits. "Get Into Reading is one of the most significant developments to have taken place in Mersey Care NHS trust and mental health practice in the last 10 years," he says.
Last word, though, should go to a dementia sufferer, who commented on reading poetry: "It moves you. I mean, it hits you inside where it meets you and means something." It's a line the greatest of literary greats would rightly be proud to come up with.
• Clare Allan is an author and writes on mental health issues. Details of Get Into Reading at thereader.org.uk
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Online voice for drug users and people with mental health problems
Patient Opinion for drug users and people with mental health problems is to be expanded to give more NHS service users the chance to highlight problems and suggest improvements.
Great so we through yet more bundles of money into collecting data and feed back that is processed into a data base and promptly forgot forever !
We need to re focus our resources to safeguard existing front line services not waste it on generating more information .
PLEASE DOH LISTEN !!
Great so we through yet more bundles of money into collecting data and feed back that is processed into a data base and promptly forgot forever !
We need to re focus our resources to safeguard existing front line services not waste it on generating more information .
PLEASE DOH LISTEN !!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
A very interest article from the BBC news web site , well worth a read .
Mike Bradbury
Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, research suggests.A US study of 12 to 18-year-olds found those with bedtimes after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went to bed before 2200. And those who slept fewer than five hours a night had a 71% higher risk of depression than those who slept eight hours, the journal Sleep reports. It is estimated 80,000 UK children and young people have depression. The researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York looked at data from 15,500 teenagers collected in the 1990s. One in 15 of those studied were found to have depression. As well as the higher risk of depression, those who were set a bedtime by their parents of after midnight were 20% more likely to think about suicide than those whose bedtime was 2200 or earlier. Those who had less than five hours sleep a night were thought to have a 48% higher risk of suicidal thoughts compared with those who had eight hours of sleep.Teenagers who reported they "usually get enough sleep" were 65% less likely to be depressed. Depression and suicidal thoughts were also more likely in girls, older teenagers and in those who had a lower self-perception of how much parents care about them. Most of the parents of the adolescents in the study set a bedtime of 2200 or earlier. A quarter set a bedtime of 2400 or later. On average the teenagers were having seven hours and 53 minutes sleep a night - less than the nine hours recommended at that age. Study leader Dr James Gangwisch said although it it was possible that youngsters with depression struggle to sleep, the fact that parental set bedtimes were linked with depression suggests that a lack of sleep is somehow underpinning the development of the condition. He said a lack of sleep could affect emotional brain responses and lead to moodiness that hindered the ability to cope with daily stresses. This moodiness could affect judgment, concentration and impulse control. Regular exercise"Adequate quality sleep could therefore be a preventative measure against depression and a treatment for depression," he added. Sarah Brennan, chief executive at the mental health charity YoungMinds, said: "Enough sleep, good food and regular exercise and all essential to stay emotionally healthy. "Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer with depression, yet we are still failing to provide our young people with the help and support to cope with it and prevent it. "Providing parents with information about how to look after your body, for example by getting enough sleep, and how to get help if they are worried about their teenager, will ensure problems are tackled early and prevent serious mental health conditions such as depression."
Mike Bradbury
Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, research suggests.A US study of 12 to 18-year-olds found those with bedtimes after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went to bed before 2200. And those who slept fewer than five hours a night had a 71% higher risk of depression than those who slept eight hours, the journal Sleep reports. It is estimated 80,000 UK children and young people have depression. The researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York looked at data from 15,500 teenagers collected in the 1990s. One in 15 of those studied were found to have depression. As well as the higher risk of depression, those who were set a bedtime by their parents of after midnight were 20% more likely to think about suicide than those whose bedtime was 2200 or earlier. Those who had less than five hours sleep a night were thought to have a 48% higher risk of suicidal thoughts compared with those who had eight hours of sleep.Teenagers who reported they "usually get enough sleep" were 65% less likely to be depressed. Depression and suicidal thoughts were also more likely in girls, older teenagers and in those who had a lower self-perception of how much parents care about them. Most of the parents of the adolescents in the study set a bedtime of 2200 or earlier. A quarter set a bedtime of 2400 or later. On average the teenagers were having seven hours and 53 minutes sleep a night - less than the nine hours recommended at that age. Study leader Dr James Gangwisch said although it it was possible that youngsters with depression struggle to sleep, the fact that parental set bedtimes were linked with depression suggests that a lack of sleep is somehow underpinning the development of the condition. He said a lack of sleep could affect emotional brain responses and lead to moodiness that hindered the ability to cope with daily stresses. This moodiness could affect judgment, concentration and impulse control. Regular exercise"Adequate quality sleep could therefore be a preventative measure against depression and a treatment for depression," he added. Sarah Brennan, chief executive at the mental health charity YoungMinds, said: "Enough sleep, good food and regular exercise and all essential to stay emotionally healthy. "Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer with depression, yet we are still failing to provide our young people with the help and support to cope with it and prevent it. "Providing parents with information about how to look after your body, for example by getting enough sleep, and how to get help if they are worried about their teenager, will ensure problems are tackled early and prevent serious mental health conditions such as depression."
Friday, January 1, 2010
I have been pondering over the question 'How do you re brand Mental Health care into Mental welling for all ?
The first thought that springs to mind is why bother ? does it matter ? well the answer to those two question are ,
1/ The more social acceptable the cause the greater the funding stream or to put it bluntly if its sexy it sells !
2/ Yes it matter a great deal to us all after all one in five people will have some form of mental well being issue in their life time.
So how to re brand
I think the perfect place to start is to look at the re branding of the evangelical media churches in the US they have moved within the space of 5 years form fire and brimstone to God being your best friend a remarkable re-branding !!
The following article from Sarah Posner of the Guardian gives a vivid insight into this master piece of re branding
In the early part of the noughties, Rev Jerry Falwell declared on national television that the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US were the result of "throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked."
"We have sinned against Almighty God, at the highest level of our government, we've stuck our finger in your eye," agreed Pat Robertson, who was hosting Falwell on his 700 Club programme.
The mockery of the hellfire-breathing duo was swift and unrelenting. Robertson and Falwell, brand names of the religious right, had become embarrassments to evangelicalism. They had outlived their usefulness, and were too old, musty, and unabashedly nutty for the new evangelical cool.
As their stars were fading, evangelicalism's emerging celebrities were employing savvy public relations specialists and rebranding themselves as your best friend, your entertainer, or your shrink – not the mouthpiece for a vengeful God. By the time Falwell died suddenly in 2007, a "new" kind of evangelical had seized the virtual pulpit of America's attention.
The re-branding was the product of evangelicalism's survival instinct in the face of the parody-ready Falwell prototype. One of America's leading evangelicals is now Rick Warren, whose mega-bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life (2002), begins: "This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover the answer to life's most important question: What on earth am I here for?"
The new evangelicals write books not about how God will smite you, but how God loves you and wants nothing more than your greatest personal, spiritual, and material fulfillment. The middle of the decade saw the publication of televangelist Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential (2004) and TD Jakes' Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits (2007). Joyce Meyer's Seven Things That Steal Your Joy: Overcoming the Obstacles to Your Happiness (2004) and Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need to Please Everyone (2005) are equally at home at Bible study and coffee klatch, in the church bookstore and at Wal-Mart.
So how to re brand , well here is a quick list of issues to be addressed
A/ We need to move Joe public away from the stigma attached to MH so out with the phrases like FUNNY FARM , NUT HOUSE
B/ We need to make the point that all families can be affected by MH issues.
C/ We need to prove that money spent on weel being is very very cost effective
The first thought that springs to mind is why bother ? does it matter ? well the answer to those two question are ,
1/ The more social acceptable the cause the greater the funding stream or to put it bluntly if its sexy it sells !
2/ Yes it matter a great deal to us all after all one in five people will have some form of mental well being issue in their life time.
So how to re brand
I think the perfect place to start is to look at the re branding of the evangelical media churches in the US they have moved within the space of 5 years form fire and brimstone to God being your best friend a remarkable re-branding !!
The following article from Sarah Posner of the Guardian gives a vivid insight into this master piece of re branding
In the early part of the noughties, Rev Jerry Falwell declared on national television that the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US were the result of "throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked."
"We have sinned against Almighty God, at the highest level of our government, we've stuck our finger in your eye," agreed Pat Robertson, who was hosting Falwell on his 700 Club programme.
The mockery of the hellfire-breathing duo was swift and unrelenting. Robertson and Falwell, brand names of the religious right, had become embarrassments to evangelicalism. They had outlived their usefulness, and were too old, musty, and unabashedly nutty for the new evangelical cool.
As their stars were fading, evangelicalism's emerging celebrities were employing savvy public relations specialists and rebranding themselves as your best friend, your entertainer, or your shrink – not the mouthpiece for a vengeful God. By the time Falwell died suddenly in 2007, a "new" kind of evangelical had seized the virtual pulpit of America's attention.
The re-branding was the product of evangelicalism's survival instinct in the face of the parody-ready Falwell prototype. One of America's leading evangelicals is now Rick Warren, whose mega-bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life (2002), begins: "This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover the answer to life's most important question: What on earth am I here for?"
The new evangelicals write books not about how God will smite you, but how God loves you and wants nothing more than your greatest personal, spiritual, and material fulfillment. The middle of the decade saw the publication of televangelist Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential (2004) and TD Jakes' Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits (2007). Joyce Meyer's Seven Things That Steal Your Joy: Overcoming the Obstacles to Your Happiness (2004) and Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need to Please Everyone (2005) are equally at home at Bible study and coffee klatch, in the church bookstore and at Wal-Mart.
So how to re brand , well here is a quick list of issues to be addressed
A/ We need to move Joe public away from the stigma attached to MH so out with the phrases like FUNNY FARM , NUT HOUSE
B/ We need to make the point that all families can be affected by MH issues.
C/ We need to prove that money spent on weel being is very very cost effective
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