E a c h in d vidual Maria Personal, social and material …mhfe.org.uk/sites/default/files/all take ten stories_final.pdf · employment journey; and how these interact with and impact

Maria

My name is Maria. I used to work as a nurse in my own country, but it is too complicated to work as a nurse here. To make money I clean at a library mornings and evenings, but it is not enough. To make some more money, I do a shift every night at a take-away near the room I rent.

I studied English at school so I can read things OK, but it is still hard to understand when people are speaking fast. I had some mental problems when I was a teenager, but all that stopped when my son was born. I’m 26 now.

I left my only son and family in Latvia nearly 18 months ago to work here. I am working so hard and I am so tired, but I cannot sleep. I saw a doctor last month who gave me a week’s worth of pills. I am scared now that my mental problems are coming back because they mustn’t. I need to earn enough money to be able to bring my son over and live here.

What should I do? I would like to nurse again, but if I can’t do it here I need to do something else to earn enough and be able to look after my little boy. Can you help me please?

Things to think about

What makes a positive difference?

• Remembering that everyone is different and that people will often need time to be able to tell their stories in ways that have meaning for them. It may take someone several interviews before they feel safe enough to tell their story

• Having aspiration for each individual to fulfil their potential

• Being aware that it is important to understand and work from where a person is at in terms of their: personal and material circumstances; well-being and recovery; learning and/or employment journey; and how these interact with and impact upon each other in a way that respects their personal values and choices

Each individual

Personal, socialand material

circumstances

Wellness and recovery

continuum

Stage in theirlearning andemployment

journey

Values and choices

Using language (literacy)

Communication

Using numbers

Using IT

A positive approach to work

Understanding the world of work

Taking responsibility

Being a resilient employee

Personal skills

Vocation-specific skills

Resources to check out

• Toolbox – More and different cards

On the CD

• ‘Advising for adaptation: A guide to personal adviser- mediated IAG, careers and skills adaptation support for migrants and refugees.’ NIACE (2007).

Online

• www.direct.gov.uk > enter ESOL in search box > select English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)

• www.excellencegateway.org.uk > enter ESOL materials for migrant workers in the search box > select ESOL materials for migrant workers

• www.dius.gov.uk > use the sidebar menu > Skills > Skills for Life > ESOL

• www.naric.org.uk NARIC is the National Agency providing skills and qualifications information for more than 180 countries

• www.mentalhealthequalities.org.uk > Race Equality in Mental Health > DRE Community Development Workers

• www.mentalhealthequalities.org.uk > Race Equality in Mental Health > DRE Further Resources > IAPT Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Positive Practice Guide

What can you do to help? 1. What would you have done to support Maria to be able to

tell you her story?

2. Think about Maria as an individual and her personal circumstances.

a) What does she want to achieve?

b) What kind(s) of help is she asking for?

c) What else might you want to know about Maria?

d) What particular barriers do you think she faces?

e) Can you help her, or who else would you signpost Maria to in order to help her achieve her goals?

3. Think about Maria’s employability skills.

a) What would be the best way to assess them?

b) Is there a tool or process that you can use with Maria, or one that she could use to self-assess her skills?

c) Which skills do you think she has?

d) Which skills do you think she might need help with?

e) How do you think she could improve her employability skills:

• in the short term;• in the longer term.

f) What opportunities are available to support Maria to gain professional registration and employment as a nurse in the UK?

4. Think about Maria’s history of mental health problems and her fear that these might be returning.

a) How does this affect the advice and support you can offer her?

b) How does it affect the way you assess her employability skills?

c) What self-help strategies could Maria use herself?

d) What advice or information would you give Maria about declaring her mental health difficulties to a learning provider or an employer?

e) What opportunities might Maria be able to access to maintain her motivation and promote her mental health and well-being?

© NIACE 2010

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping

Achievements and aspirations

Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time

Practical and emotional

Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e

DiscoveringPotential

Darren

Hi, I’m Darren. I know you have to see me, but don’t worry, I won’t take much time – I know there’s ‘nothing down for me’. I mean, how am I ever going to get work, especially now there’s a recession? There’s lots of jobs I can’t do because I’ve got dyslexia – they told me that in prison. I didn’t really do school much. Me and my mates thought we could get on without it.

I’m 21 and I’ve got two boys, Tyrone and Daniel. I haven’t seen them since I went inside. They live with my ex-partner. I want to see them but she says I can’t unless I’m giving her money.

I got out on tagging five weeks ago. My probation officer says I’m supposed to sort my life out now and make sure I don’t end up back inside. I know – fat chance! He’s made me lots of appointments like this one.

I did education when I was inside ‘cos then I got paid and could have a TV and a Playstation in my cell. I got five years. It was for aggravated burglary, going equipped, and a load of other stuff.

It was a bit of a shock to the system when I was moved to the adult prison two days after my 18th birthday. I had four more transfers so I got used to it. After I was transferred, I couldn’t get a job in the kitchens again. That was what I did in YP.1 It was all right that was.

Anyway, I spent as much time as I could working out. I did some boxing and I think I got some sort of certificate for showing other people how to use the equipment. Don’t bother telling me to go to the gym now. I won’t use it on the outside because of the scars.

I never really finished anything or stayed anywhere long. I’m really fed up and I’m cutting again. I don’t think I finished induction once after the first time in YP. Every time I transferred I ended up in the hospital wing for the cutting.


Building self-esteem

People who support others to feel good about themselves:

• Are proud of their own positive self-esteem – but know that they aren’t perfect

• Recognise that we all need to nurture our self-esteem

• Are optimistic about the future

• Haven’t forgotten their own past difficulties and use this to empathise with others

• Are open-minded and interested in meeting and understanding new people

• Believe in the ability of people to change

• Respect others’ fears and anxieties and do not pressurise people

• Make it clear they will not allow themselves (or others) to be abused or ‘taken for a ride’

Source: James and Nightingale.NIACE (2004).


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices

1. YP = Young Persons Offender Institution or Prison


• Skills wheel• Toolbox – Opportunities cards• Local address book

On the CD

• The Bradley Report. Department of Health (2009).

• ‘Information, Advice and Guidance Supporting Offenders in Custody and in the Community’. LSC (2004).

• ‘Quick Reads’ Scott Quinnell interview. NIACE Podcast (2008).

• Should I say? NIACE 1 in 4 leaflet (2008).

• ‘What is Dyslexia?’ NIACE (2007).

Online

• www.dius.gov.uk > offender learning

• Criminal Justice and Employment www.scmh.org.uk

• Ofsted good practice www.excellencegateway.org.uk > HMP Moorland

• NACRO www.nacro.org.uk

• Unlock www.unlock.org.uk

• NACRO Disclosure Service www.nacrodisclosures.org.uk

• CIPD Employing ex-offenders: A practical guide (2004). Download from CRB www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk

What can you do to help? 1. How would you have approached Darren’s first interview

and what questions would you have asked him to help him to be able to tell you his story?

2. What initial thoughts do you have about Darren’s motivation and expectations?

3. How (if at all) would you respond to Darren’s statements about his ex-partner denying him access to his sons?

4. As you work with Darren, what other things would you want to learn about him and why?

5. Which other services might you want to get involved in supporting Darren?

6. What opportunities would you discuss with Darren to help:

a) Build his confidence and sense of self-worth?

b) Increase his motivation?

c) Challenge his belief that he is unemployable and that employers will not want to employ him?

d) Improve his employability skills?

7. How could you make these opportunities attractive options for Darren personally?

8. How would you respond to Darren’s belief that his dyslexia means that many employment ‘doors’ will automatically be closed to him?

9. How would you explore with Darren the effect that taking up learning and skills and employment opportunities might have on his mental health difficulties and vice versa?

10. What support would you be able to offer or signpost Darren to if he thinks his mental health difficulties might present problems?

11. What advice and support would you give Darren (or where would you direct him) about disclosing his criminal record to potential learning providers and/or employers and deciding whether to declare details of his mental health problem?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

George

I’m sorry if I seem to be in a bit of a state, but I am in a state. I think I’m going to get the sack soon unless someone can help me. My GP suggested that you might be able to help. Can you?

What it is, is this. I’ve worked in the warehouse of a freight distribution company for the last twenty-two years. They’ve been great with me until now. I told them about my mental health problems when I was interviewed, and over the years the company has been really tolerant when I’m having an off day or I’m a bit bad tempered, or I have to take a couple of days off.

There’s a new manager just started recently and he’s told me I’m not properly trained for my job and I have to get a National Vocational Qualification in Health and Safety, or else he’ll have to let me go. He even told me I can’t hide behind my disability this time because health and safety is the law.

Let’s be realistic here. I won’t get another job at my age will I? Hell, I don’t want another job at my age. I just want to carry on doing the one I’ve got. I also don’t want it to end like this, but I don’t know how or if I can get this qualification and the pressure is really starting to make me ill.

The trouble is I know all this stuff alright, but it doesn’t come so easy these days as it used to. I lose my concentration, but I can pick things up so long as I can do it my way and at my pace, but I haven’t been to school since I left at 16. I’m 57 for goodness’s sake. I won’t fit in. I’ll feel a complete fool with all those young ones at college looking at me.

I joined the Army straight after school. I was in the Falklands. I started getting bad nightmares – flashbacks about a year after that. I felt like I never really slept. It’s why I like working nights nowadays. I really lost the plot. I tried to kill myself a couple of times and had to leave the Army. Things were not good for me for a few years. My dad tracked me down eventually – sleeping rough. I moved back home and I still live with my parents – they are in their 80s now.

That’s the other problem; if I have to go to college, I don’t know how I’ll manage. Dad’s had a stroke and mum’s got arthritis, so I have to do quite a bit for them in the daytime. We’ve got a routine and having to go to college could really upset everything.


Carers’ rights

The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act came into force in April 2005. It built on existing legislation and support for carers by:

• Placing a duty on local authorities to ensure that all carers know that they are entitled to an assessment of their needs

• Placing a duty on councils to consider a carer’s outside interests (work, study or leisure) when carrying out an assessment

• Promoting better joint working between councils and the health service to ensure that support for carers is delivered in a coherent manner

Since April 2007, carers have a statutory right to ask their employer for flexible working if they are caring for an adult who is a relative or lives at the same address.


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


• Skills wheel • Toolbox – Support for

employers cards• Ups and Downs game• Local address book

On the CD

• [Veterans] Mental health pilots rollout completed (2009).

• You can do it 1 in 4 leaflet. NIACE (2008).

• Working our way to better mental health: a framework for action. DWP (2009).

Online

• Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - Employment helpline

(Tel. 0845 604 6610 email: [email protected]

- www.equalityhumanrights.com > Learning & training page

• Veterans UK www.veterans-uk.info

• Unionlearn www.unionlearn.org.uk > negotiating learning agreements

• Health, Work, Wellbeing www.workingforhealth.gov.uk

What can you do to help? 1. What would you have done or said to enable George to

share his story and concerns with you each time you saw him?

2. What do you think George’s main concerns are?

3. How do you think each of the following is affecting how George is thinking about his employer’s requirement:

a) George’s personal circumstances?

b) His mental health history?

c) His understanding of what learning in employment involves?

4. How would you help George to think through possible ways of responding to his problem?

5. Which agency or agencies would be able to advise you whether George has to get the qualification his employer wants him to have in order to continue in employment?

6. If George decides that he will try to get the qualification, what different learning and skills opportunities are there open to George?

7. Which option(s) would cause least disruption to George’s personal circumstances and his ability to maintain his recovery?

8. What practical support do you think George could access, and from whom, to help him:

a) Retain his job?

b) Manage any changes to the routines he has been using to protect his mental health?

c) Manage his caring responsibilities?

d) Be successful in any learning he undertakes?

9. If George decides he wants help to try to broker a solution with his employer:

a) Who would you involve?

b) What sort of advice and support could be offered to George’s employer?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Adrian

I am an apprentice chef; my name is Adrian and I’m 27. I only started recently and I’ve been really lucky; my employer is a multi-national hotel chain, and I get live-in accommodation. They can take their pick of apprentices. My partner, Ian, is doing business studies and we hope to open a restaurant together in the future, so I have to make a go of this. But I know that during the first six months of service here I have to prove myself. It’s harder work than I ever imagined, and the hours are getting longer and longer.

The Head Chef is well known, which adds to the pressure. But my mentor is on the same shifts as me, which should help, and he’s really good, so I am learning lots from him. The trouble is he wants to get noticed and rise fast, so every time I get something wrong he thinks it makes him look bad and he has a real go at me. It’s not as bad as you see on some of the reality TV programmes, but it is very competitive. It seems that you really do have to be tough, and at the moment I just don’t seem to be tough enough.

I know I could make a complaint, but I don’t want to. I need to learn how to hack it. Ian tells me I am just oversensitive and take everything to heart too much, but I think some of it’s me anyway. I haven’t told them, but I have OCD.1 I think I’ve probably always had it since I was very young. But when I was doing my GCSEs, I had all these rituals and in the end I couldn’t take my exams. It makes me a bit of a perfectionist, so it’s good. Sometimes. Especially in this job. But it’s starting to make me too slow at getting things done. I’ve had therapy for it. CBT they call it.2 And in my previous job I managed to keep things in perspective – but I can’t seem to remember how...

1. OCD = Obsessive Compulsive Disorder2. CBT = Cognitive Behavioural Therapy


Bullying

‘Behaviour that is considered bullying by one person may be considered firm management by another. Most people will agree on extreme cases of bullying and harassment, but it is sometimes the “grey” areas that cause most problems.’

Bullying and Harassment at work: A guide for managers and employers. ACAS (2009).

Resilience

‘In order to give every ... young person the best possible chance to thrive ... health and education systems must act together to promote well-being and foster skills for resilience. We should all be prepared to step in quickly to support those who are particularly vulnerable to mental ill-health ...’

Working our way to better mental health. DWP and DH (2009).


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


• Skills wheel

• Toolbox

• Ups and Downs game

On the CD

• Should I say?, NIACE 1 in 4 leaflet (2008).

• Resources on workplace bullying, including: ‘Critics choice – Tonight: The Real Hell’s Kitchen (ITV1).’ Daily Telegraph; 24.5.2008

Online

• The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) www.apprenticeships.org.uk

• OCD UK www.ocduk.org > student factsheet

• OCD Action www.ocdaction.org.uk > community > video stories

• Shift line manager’s web resource www.shift.org.uk/employers > Employees > talking to your manager

• The Gay Business Association (like a Chamber of Commerce for gay and lesbian businesses) www.gba.org.uk

• Emotional Resilience Toolkit www.bitc.org.uk

What can you do to help? 1. How would you help Adrian to think about why his

experience and feelings might not be attributable to his previous mental health difficulties?

2. How might the fact that Adrian has previously had CBT be useful in helping him to think about his current situation?

3. As well as discussing his mental health difficulties, Adrian has been open in telling you about his sexual orientation, would you explore this further with him and if so how and why?

4. What would you say to Adrian to help him think about the possible advantages and disadvantages of telling his employers and/or learning provider about his mental health difficulties?

5. If Adrian decides that he does not want to declare his mental health difficulties, what other options are there for him to access support while he develops the skills and coping strategies he wants?

6. Which employability skills do you think Adrian is asking for help with?

7. Where can Adrian access opportunities to develop the personal resilience he feels he needs to succeed in his chosen career?

8. What suggestions do you have for Adrian about how he can go on developing these skills throughout his career to support his ambition of running his own business?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Suzi

My name is Suzi. I enjoy being creative – mostly through photography and film. I live in accommodation managed by a charity that supports people with enduring mental health problems. When I was young, my ambition was to work in the film industry – making documentaries. I became really ill when I was at university. I’d finished my Masters and had just started my PhD. Then I was diagnosed with psychosis. Since then, I have always been supported by statutory mental health services.

I receive benefits, including disability living allowance, and about three years ago I applied for direct payments – that’s how I pay for my courses and my materials. I do a different course at the local adult education centre each term. This term I have enrolled to do local history and life drawing.

No-one has talked to me about working for nearly 20 years, but some of the people I was in hospital with last time are in jobs now. Recently I’ve seen those TV ads about people with mental health problems being able to work too. I guess it got me thinking.

I’m not sure if I have left it too late, but I’ve been wondering if maybe... Maybe, I could do something more. I’ve been fairly well for a couple of years. Not perfect, but better than I was for a long time. I don’t want to sound ungrateful and I don’t want to take on so much that I get really ill again, but somehow I feel I want things to change (just a bit). I’d like to go back to trying to do something to do with film-making if I can. People tell me I’m quite good. I’ve uploaded a couple of short films on YouTube about how hard it was to grow up mixed race in the 60s and 70s.

The problem is I’m 45 now and I don’t want people to laugh at me. I’ve never worked or lived on my own, so I’ve no idea really what sort of jobs are out there or if anyone would employ me. I don’t want to risk losing all the things that have helped me to get better, like my support worker and my accommodation, and my benefits, and then fall flat on my face, but... What do you think?


The Perkins Review (DWP, 2009) identified seven principles of an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach:

• The main goal should always be competitive paid (full- or part-time) employment

• Everyone is eligible

• Job search should be consistent with the individual’s personal interests and experiences

• Job search should be rapid (within one month)

• Mental health employment specialists and clinical teams should be integrated and co-located

• Support should be time-unlimited and individualised to both the employer and employee

• Welfare benefits counselling should support the person through the transition from benefits to paid work

Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills




• Toolbox

• Local address book

• Skills wheel

On the CD

• Your guide: For people who are thinking about work, learning, training and volunteering while maintaining good mental health. Advice Resources (2008).

• Removing barriers: The facts about mental health and employment. Briefing Paper 40. SCMH (2009).

• (The Perkins Review) Realising Ambitions: Better employment support for people with a mental health condition. DWP (2009).

Online

• Link Up Link In website to support services to work together to support the PSA for socially excluded adults www.hmg.gov.uk/linkuplinkin

• Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health www.mentalhealthequalities.org.uk > race equality

• Intermix – a website for the benefit of anyone who feels they have a multiracial identity www.intermix.org.uk

What can you do to help? 1. What employment and learning and skills options are

available to Suzi?

2. How would you help Suzi look at the options available to her and work out which direction she would like to take?

3. What barriers do you think Suzi might face to getting and keeping a job?

4. What would you need to do to make it possible for Suzi to access rapid job search related to her interest in working in the film-making industry?

5. Who would you contact to obtain specialist advice on her housing and welfare benefits?

6. How would you assess Suzi’s employability skills and how could she develop skills where she has gaps?

7. How could Suzi’s eligibility for direct payments be useful in helping her to realise her goal to work?

8. If Suzi needs time-unlimited support to get and keep work, who could offer this and how can she access it?

9. How would you ensure an effective and co-ordinated multi-agency approach between the various agencies Suzi is receiving help from and any new agencies that might become involved in supporting her?

10. If Suzi were willing to become involved in your service by sharing her personal experiences as a mixed race woman with long-standing experience of using mental health services and of being unemployed, how would you go about enabling her to become involved?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Babir

[Babir attended with an interpreter but was able to speak for himself.]

I am Babir. I am a Kurd from near Erbil originally, but then I was in Kirkuk and then in Baghdad, where it was bad for me. I am Sunni [Muslim] so it is not good for me there. Now I apply to stay in England. When I first came here I was kept in as an asylum seeker; now I am here as a refugee. Here there are lot of Iraqis, but none are my family; they are not Sunni.

In my country I was trained as engineer, but here I have no money and I do no work. My job was help to get out of Iraq. Soon, I will forget what I learned. Where can I find English classes and job? They say I have to find job, but I don’t know how here. Someone said college, but I use the Internet and they say there is long waiting list, I have not been here long enough, I am too old. I am 24. Here is my letter; it says I have ‘Humanitarian Protection’.

My English is not so good; it is hard to explain how it is. It makes fright attacks worse. I have flashbacks when my father was taken and the fighting. All my family went to the camps until we go home, but it was not good for me. My family I do not know now. I pray they are not dead, but who knows? I want to know, but I do not want to know. Doctors, social people, Jobcentre people do not understand. Is there someone here who understands?


‘Religious and spiritual practices are often important aspects of daily life for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, as they support social cohesion and cultural memories. They may help people to find more meaning in life.

The problem is mental distress among any community may be seen as a sign of weakness. It is stigmatised and people remain silent about it… The concept of “mental health” itself may be alien, and the offer of counselling with a stranger may seem odd.'

Source: www.peoplelikeus.info (2009, Introduction)


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


• Toolbox – particularly More and different cards

• Local address book

• Skills wheel

On the CD

• ‘Supporting traumatised learners’. NIACE Briefing Sheet (2007).

• Refugees and Asylum Seekers: An education, training and employment guide for advisers. (Advice Resources – produced by the Refugee Assessment and Guidance Unit) (2006). There are ten different language versions, including Kurdish, for clients.

• Jobcentre Plus and Refugee Council joint communiqué on working in partnership (2009).

Online

• A Civilised Society: Mental health provision for refugees and asylum-seekers in England and Wales (2009). MIND http://www.tinyurl.com/civilised-society

• HARPWEB (Health for Asylum Seekers and Refugees Portal) www.harpweb.org.uk > Mental Health

• Time Together: mentoring project www.timetogether.org.uk

What can you do to help? 1. How will you ensure that your service is culturally

sensitive to Babir’s needs?

2. Which agencies would you liaise with to help you understand refugees and asylum seekers’ situation, entitlements and opportunities and to signpost and/or refer Babir?

3. How would you support Babir to understand how the education and employment system works in the England and to make sense of the different options and opportunities?

4. What is the process for establishing whether his qualifications are valid in the UK?

5. How will you help Babir to find out if it is feasible for him to return to engineering in the UK or to explore alternative options?

6. How would you assess Babir’s employability skills?

7. What barriers do you think Babir may face in trying to access learning and/or employment?

8. How would you explore with Babir the role his faith plays in helping him cope with his situation and his mental health problems?

9. What local opportunities can Babir access to:

a) Meet other Kurds, and worship with other Sunni Muslims?

b) Get culturally appropriate treatment and support for his mental health difficulties?

c) Help reduce his sense of isolation?

d) Familiarise him with UK workplace culture, improve his English language and learn work-related English?

e) Learn how to find out about job vacancies and apply for jobs in the UK?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Neville

1st appointmentMy wife made this appointment for me. I didn’t make it. I was awake all last night worrying what to say to you and what you’d ask me. I only came because she brought me and it means she can’t say I haven’t come. I’d like to go now.

4th appointmentMy doctor said I can’t work. I haven’t ever had a proper job anyway. I left school at 15 and I did try to work, but all I could get was cash-in-hand stuff, labouring. You know, a week here, a week there. One of the lads had a van and we did a bit of door-to-door scrap collecting too, or garden clearance. All cash. Good money. Sometimes. I did that until I was about 25. Yeah, I used to have to go to the job club. It was pointless; there weren’t any jobs to search for in the 1980s, but there was a load of us so we had a bit of a lark. The job centre sent me for a job once, sweeping up. I ask you what sort of a job’s that? Anyway, I injured my back moving one of those big fridge freezers and I was put on the sick and that was the last I saw of the job club. They still running those things?

No, nothing in particular I’m interested in. I just want to get back home.

6th appointmentShe [wife] tried getting me to go to college a few times. It seemed like every August we’d go to one of the enrolment days and sign me up for something – ‘start again this’ or ‘start again that’, writing stuff and groups, computers, maths, that sort of thing. Mostly women. I couldn’t see the point.

I had a panic attack the last time and once the doctor told her I had mental problems and wouldn’t ever work again; she knew it wasn’t just my back any more, that I was really ill and on serious medication, so she stopped bothering me. Anyway, since she started working I’m not ‘on the social’ so the courses cost her money. Everything’s been alright for the last fifteen years. She’s only thinking about herself sending me here now. She’s got in arrears with the mortgage and there’s talk at her work that she’s going to be made redundant. So now she says I have to do something to help. But what could I do anyway?

[Note: Neville missed his 2nd, 3rd and 5th appointments.]


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


Barriers to employment for people with mental health difficulties:

• Fear of stigma and discrimination

• Lack of awareness of the mental and physical health benefits of work

• Limited understanding of employers’ requirements

• Personal histories and circumstances that decrease the likelihood of an employer taking them on, e.g. poor literacy skills, having a criminal record

• Real or perceived benefits trap and debts

• Their own and workers’ low expectations and lack of aspirations for them

• Lack of help with employment by specialist mental health services

• Poor communication between health and employment staff

(Adapted from SCMH, 2009)1

1. SCMH = Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health


• Skills wheel


• Toolbox

On the CD

• Work, Recovery and Inclusion: Employment support for people in contact with secondary mental health services. HM Government (2009).

Online

• The social and personal benefits of learning: A summary of key research findings. Feinstein, L. et al. (2008).http://tinyurl.com/blsynthesis

• Video case study, Elizabeth – ‘no one in our house works’ http://www.tinyurl.com/BBC-Elizabeth

• Watch the ‘Well-being in the East TV commercial produced for World Mental Health Day 2008’ at: www.well-beingeast.co.uk/tvfilms.php5

• Mental Health Foundation ‘Do something you are good at’ www.mentalhealth.org.uk/do-something-you-are-good-at/

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

What can you do to help? 1. What approach would you take to working with Neville?

2. What kind of help and support do you think he needs?

3. What help could you (or your organisation) offer Neville and for how long?

4. Which service or services in your local area would be best placed to support Neville and why?

5. Realistically, what do you see as the options available to him?

6. Which of these might offer Neville some sense of hope and might enable him to begin to imagine a different and more positive future in which he can see himself as an active participant?

7. How does the fact that Neville is not on benefits affect the opportunities and help that he can access?

8. What signs of progression can you identify in Neville over the course of his appointments?

9. Next time Neville attends, where would you try to start the conversation and why?

10. Where could Neville’s wife be signposted to for support about her anxiety about her job and their debts?

Gemma

Hi, I’m Gemma; I’ve decided I want to go to college full time.

Do I know what I want to do? Nope. That’s why I’m asking you. I haven’t got a clue. Something that’ll be a bit of fun and earn me loads of money in the future. What about drama? My mum always says I’m a ‘drama queen’. What have they got?

What am I doing now? Nothing... well, that’s not quite right. I’ve got a job, but I hate it. My dad says I should be ... grateful I’ve got a job (he’s unemployed) but it’s so, so boring.

What’s the job? I’m on the tills at the supermarket; beep, beep, beep all day as those bar codes go over the scanner. I can’t be doing that all my life. It’s so boring – the same thing every day. Do you know you can’t even go to the loo when you need to? You have to call for a supervisor and she tells you to wait for your break. It livens up weekends though. Lots of students work there.

Is it my first job? No way. I’ve had three, no four, jobs. Hang on a minute, if you count that apprenticeship I dropped out of and the ones I lost my temper with and walked, I guess I’ve had six or seven.

Do I live with my parents? No. No way. They threw me out when I started doing drugs. I would have been about 13 then. They put me into care, but we get on better now. I share a flat with two mates. They are both at uni. I know I’m not bright enough for uni, but I’m not stupid. I reckon I could do college easy.

How old am I? What do you want to know that for? I’m 19, if you must know. That’s not too old to go to college you know.

Did I go to school? Well, of course I went to school, when I was a kid. Did I get any qualifications? No. Look, I didn’t want to get into any of this with you. It took a lot to walk in here you know. I dropped out of school ‘cos I have all this anger inside me and I got into the cheap cider and drugs, but I’m clean now. I have been for six months. Turns out I was self-medicating. The youth justice lot sent me to a drugs project; they sent me to a psychiatrist and she said I was bipolar (you know, that thing Britney’s got and that girl on East Enders). I’m fixed now. I’m just taking their drugs now instead of my own ones. It’s OK, but I have to tell you everything is really boring now.


‘For many people with severe mental health problems, harmful alcohol or drug use contributes to a pattern of relapse and risk. Dual diagnosis is one of the most challenging problems in mental health care….’ Source: New Horizons: A shared vision for mental health. DH (2009b:61).

A recovery philosophy

‘Recovery is about building a meaningful and satisfying life, as defined by the person themselves, whether or not there are ongoing or recurring symptoms and problems.

Hope is central to recovery and can be enhanced by a person having more active control over their life.’ Source: New Horizons: Consultation document. DH (2009a:59).


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices



• Skills wheel

• Toolbox

On the CD

• ‘Emotional intelligence.’NIACE and The National Youth Agency (NYA) (2008).

• ‘The learning needs of young adults with mental health difficulties.’ NIACE (2002).

• ‘Hannah’s story.’ NIACE podcast.

Online

• Youthhealthtalk! www.youthhealthtalk.org

• A Generation Under Stress Teenage mental health: Girls shout out. Girlguiding UK and the Mental Health Foundation. (2008) http://tinyurl.com/gen-under-stress

• YoungMinds www.youngminds.org.uk

• BBC Headroom website www.bbc.co.uk/headroom

• Bipolar Aware website www.bipolaraware.co.uk

• Amy Stretch Parker’s story on YouTube http://tinyurl.com/ylfeunv

What can you do to help? 1. How would you help Gemma to think about what options

are open to her?

2. What could Gemma (or you) do, before she gives up her job, to try and make sure that college is the right choice for her and won’t be boring too?

3. What income will Gemma receive when she is in full-time study?

4. How would you support Gemma to think about how full-time study might affect her current income, lifestyle, and housing?

5. Think about Gemma’s employability skills.

a) Which skills do you think she has?

b) Which skills do you think she might need help with?

6. How could you ensure that whatever subject or vocational course Gemma chooses she is also able to develop any gaps in her employability skills?

7. How would you explore with Gemma the effect that going to college might have on her mental health difficulties and vice versa?

8. What support would you be able to offer or signpost Gemma to if she thinks her mental health difficulties might present problems?

9. What self-help strategies could Gemma use to help to maintain her mental health and well-being at college?

10. Who else (if anyone) do you think it would be helpful to involve in supporting Gemma to reach her goals?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Mei Ling

I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. I tried to do it all online, but I’ve been going round in circles for days. There’s a mass of information out there, but I just can’t seem to get all the different bits to fit together. I don’t know if I’m looking for the wrong thing or looking in the wrong place. Anyway, it’s taken me five years to get here so I’m not going to give up now, and it’s good to be able to talk it all through with a real live person.

I want to know if you think I could set myself up in business, as a freelance consultant. I was ill for a long time, but I have come to see my mental illness as something positive, a gift if you like, because it has revealed to me my creative inner world. I’d like to help other people to do the same, especially other Chinese women. Since I got back I’ve been involved in doing some training for my mental health trust and the Chinese mental health project, where I’ve shared my experiences and ideas.

I’ll probably be OK on the legal side. But I know I need help to learn how to run a business – planning, marketing, accounts and so forth – and if there are free courses or support to help me? The adviser on the phone said I would have to pay because I’ve got a law degree, even though I get benefits, but I’m not that person anymore. It was a long time ago, before I was ill. I can’t be a solicitor now or ever again. I probably need to go back to the beginning really don’t I, in more sense than one?

I always wanted to be a solicitor, and I was good at it too. Somewhere along the way I got married. Then I got divorced, but I didn’t care – it meant I had more time for work. Then I made a big mistake. I had an affair with a client. I was suspended. I know it’s a cliché, but it was the final straw. I went home, got my passport and my savings and fled. I didn’t contact my family and I didn’t look back for a long time.

About a year and a half later, I pitched up at my aunt’s in New Zealand. Somehow she got permission for me to stay so that I could get better. She took me to a doctor and to a Chinese mental health project called ‘Kai Xin Xing Dong’. Their slogan is 'I have a caring and loving heart towards you and hope you have a caring and loving heart towards me', and that’s how it was. Slowly I got well. I take good care of my mental health now. I cope. I have friends and I’m a much happier and nicer person than I was.


‘People from Black and minority ethnic communities are less likely to use employment support services and less likely to succeed in gaining employment than their White British peers.’Source: Briefing Paper 35. SCMH (2008).

Relatively little is known about self-employment and mental health, but in both the Social Exclusion Unit report (2004) and Work Recovery and Inclusion (2009), self-employment is described as an important option for people with mental health problems who want to get back to work.

The Business Minds ‘Newcastle Demonstration Project‘ (2007) found that the key lesson for advisers was that there is ‘nothing to be afraid of. Advisers already had many of the core skills to realistically support clients with mental health problems.’


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


• Skills wheel

• Toolbox

Online

• www.mentalhealth.org.uk >‘How to look after your mental health.’ Mental Health Foundation (2008).

• www.neweconomics.org > Five ways to well-being

• MIND www.mind.org.uk > Guide to surviving working life

• www.rethink.org > Spirituality and mental illness

• Chinese Mental Health Association (UK) www.cmha.org.uk

• Kai Xin Xing Dong’s website www.kaixinxingdong.org.nz > option to select English (in top right corner of page)

• www.outoftheirminds.co.nz/?page_id=17 > Rethink madness

• www.mhhe.heacademy.ac.uk> themes >user-and-carer-involvement

• www.socialfirms.co.uk/resources > search

What can you do to help? 1. What do you think of Mei Ling’s business idea? How

viable do you think it is?

2. How would you strike a balance in your discussions with Mei Ling between encouragement and realism?

3. How would you help Mei Ling to consider the real challenges and obstacles she might encounter?

4. How would you help Mei Ling to assess her employability skills needs?

5. What information would you give Mei Ling about the options that are available to her?

6. If you are unable to provide it yourself, where else would you signpost Mei Ling to for specialist help on becoming self-employed?

7. Who would you contact or where would you signpost Mei Ling to if she wanted to access some peer support or mentoring from:

a) Other Chinese mental health service users working in mental health?

b) Other people from Black and minority ethnic communities who have mental health difficulties and have become self-employed?

c) Other women working in mental health who might have a similar interest or approach to her?

d) Other people with mental health difficulties who work as freelance mental health consultants?

e) Your local Delivering Race Equality Community Development Workers (DRE CDWs)?

8. How would you raise the subject of any problems that ‘bad mental health days’ might cause for her business?

9. What contingency planning would you advise Mei Ling to build into her business plan for if she has bad days?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Dawn

Hello, you gave a talk here [at the Children’s Centre] a bit back. I come here with my children and I help out. Nothing much, just washing up. Only, would I be able to do some of those things?

It’s not that I want to go out to work or anything. It’s just what you said about learning with your children. It made me feel a bit bad for not doing it. I’d like to help my youngest kids if I could.

It’s too late for my oldest one. I got her a computer, but I can’t help her with it. I worry what she gets up to on it. She’s been going through a phase since she went to secondary school. Now she says I’m stupid as well as mad. I know she doesn’t mean it, but it hurts. I don’t want the other two to say that about me. The manager at the Centre says that if I could read and do maths she could let me do more things as a volunteer and it still wouldn’t interfere with my benefits. What do you think?

No, it’s alright, forget it. Forget I asked. Silly really. I was no good at school. I was in ‘the Family Class’, but it didn’t have anything to do with what you talked about. It just meant we were too thick to do proper lessons. I suppose I’d better tell you about the ‘mad’ thing as well or you’ll be thinking ‘who have I got here?’

My kids are on the social register because the house is a mess and my nerves are bad all the time. It’s just life I think. I told my social worker I was going to ask you next time you came; she said she doesn’t think I should. She says it’s too early and I should wait. I should just take things one day at a time but stay busy looking after the kids and the house so that I don’t have time to think and get upset. I had the baby blues bad after each of my kids but I got over it. Then two years ago, their dad was killed. I couldn’t cope. The police came and everything. I was in the mental ward for six months. I had the baby there. The other two were put in care. I’m a lot better now, but their dad used to take care of lots of things I can’t do.


‘People who think they can’t do something often fail; people who think they can do something sometimes succeed against all the odds.’

Source: National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (2009). www.ncetm.org.uk

Family learning

Intergenerational involvement in each others’ learning activities through family learning can:

• Raise aspirations

• Create long-term change in attitudes to learning

• Build resilience in individuals and families

• Create community well-being, economic prosperity and social cohesion.

Source: The learning family: A NIACE briefing note (2009).


Communication

Using numbers

Using IT





Personal skills


Each individual


circumstances


continuum


journey

Values and choices


• Toolbox• Skills wheel

On the CD

• Families, learning and culture... NIACE (2008).

• Making the Connection:The mental health and family learning pack. NIACE (2008).

• ‘The Human Library.’ Norfolk Library and Information Services (2010).

Online

• BBC RaW campaign: Short videos of how people changed their lives by learning everyday skills www.bbc.co.uk/raw/community/gallery.shtml

• ‘Literacy today: The role of museums, libraries and archives’ www.literacytrust.org.uk

• ‘Get on’ campaign website and resources http://geton.direct.gov.uk

• ‘Research report 19 – The effects of mothers’ post-16 education on the next generation.’ www.learningbenefits.net

• Netmums www.netmums.com > postnatal depression

What can you do to help? 1. How would you respond to Dawn’s questions about:

a) Getting involved in family learning activities at the library?

b) Whether you think she could learn how to read, write and do maths?

2. What would you say to Dawn in response to what she has told you about:

a) Her feelings?

b) Her personal circumstances?

c) Her experience of mental health difficulties?

d) Her social worker’s concerns?

3. How could you help Dawn to grow in confidence and stay motivated about:

a) Being able to manage this change that she wants?

b) Being able to learn to read, write and do maths?

c) Supporting her youngest children’s learning?

d) Building on her volunteering activities?

4. How would you help Dawn to assess the skills she has and identify the ones she’d like to develop to be able to increase her opportunities for volunteering?

5. What practical barriers do you think Dawn may face in taking up learning opportunities and how would you help her develop the skills to be able to overcome them?

6. How can you ensure that Dawn has access to continuity of support for as long as she needs it in her learning and volunteering journey?

7. How would you ensure an effective collaborative approach between, Dawn, you and the other workers involved with her to maximise the support available to help her realise her learning and volunteering aspirations?

Thinking

Getting Kee

ping


Opportunities,

choices and control

support and time


Dev

elop

ing

resi

lienc

e


© NIACE 2010

Documents

E a c h in d vidual Maria Personal, social and material …mhfe.org.uk/sites/default/files/all take ten stories_final.pdf · employment journey; and how these interact with and impact