Star Wards Dec 2010 Newsletter #55

8/8/2019 Star Wards Dec 2010 Newsletter #55

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December 2010 Issue #55

Hello, shalom and

welcome to the firstJewishedition of theStar Wards newsletter!

Buddy and I are Jewish.

Judaism is matrilineal

i.e. if the mother isJewish, their offspring

are Jewish. The slightcomplication of the

daughter being aTibetan Terrier doesnt

seem to feature in

religious texts, butBuddy is definitely

Jewish because sheloves eating and gettingpresents.

Part of the inspirationfor this Jewish editionof the newsletter is the

amazing Ruby Wax, whohas done so much to not

only reduce the stigmaof mental illness butalso to inject much

needed accessibleinformation about therealities of being

mentally ill. Theres an

account on p. 10 of thehilarious and profoundly

moving show Losing It

which Ruby and singer-

songwriter Judith Owen

generously performed asa special performance

for Star Wards.

Those of you with

Jewish tendencies,

heritage, friends,patients or (inevitably)

Jewish psychiatrists will

know that the festivalof Chanukah is

ridiculously early this

year. December 2nd to9th. And its yet another

high cholesterol High

Holyday, with friedgoodies such as

doughnuts and latkes

(potato pancakes) beingcompulsory. Consuming

all that schmaltz(fat) isguaranteed to warm you

up. As ever, Im in awe

of the commitment ofward staff and their

heroic efforts to get

into work. Theres a

great feature in the

newsletter from Amy

Bennett in Sheffield,

one of the most snowed-

under areas of thecountry. Shes just sent

me an email saying: We

have been trekkingthrough the snow to get

to work, but there has

been a really good staffturnout, and morale is

high despite the

conditions! Thats thespirit! Congratulations

all round or, as we say in

Yiddish, mazel tov.

Buddy in multi-faith

holiday gear

Love

and

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Mitzvah Day on November 21st was a huge success nationally, and Geoff Brennan,nurse consultant at Camden and Islington, yet again trail-blazed for inpatient services.

First, theres an excerpt from an article describing Mitzvah Day in the context of the

current government pre-occupation with the Big Society. Weve then got a fab account

of Mitzvah Day in hospital by Geoff. Huge thanks to Geoff and colleagues for their

pioneering work and to Marian at Mitzvah Day for heroic efforts to include mental

health hospitals.

Thanks to Mitzvah Day and Jewish Care for the wonderful photos

Heres a Jewish joke to get us in the mood. Its Chanukah in Stamford Hill, and

elsewhere, and Mrs Cohen is concerned that she hasnt recently seen her elderlyneighbour, Miss Smith. She says to her son Moishe: Bubbeleh, be a good boy. Go nextdoor and find out how old Miss Smith is. Moishe comes back a few minutes later. Nu?

Is Miss Smith alright? asks his mum. Shes fine, Mum, but shes cross with you.

Cross? Why would she be cross with me? Well, Moishe replies, she said its none of

your business how old she is.

November 21st2010, Times Online. By Rabbi Boyd-Gelfand, Chief Executive of

Movement for Reform Judaism.

What does the Big

Society mean in

action?

Giving up your time to

volunteer to help others.

Each year, around this

time, our synagogues

start haranguing me.

Give blood! Collect toys

for sick children! Come

tidy the local park! Then

I know Mitzvah Day is

approaching.

One of the challengesfacing this Government

has been to explain in

ordinary language what

its mean by its big idea:

the Big Society. And

yet, it seems to me

Mitzvah Day is in fact

the embodiment of

exactly what they mean

when they talk about

the Big Society. Mitzvah

(loosely translated as

Good Deed) Day is

put simply - the Jewish

communitys national day

of volunteering.

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The ask is simple and

yet unusual: because the

one thing you are not

allowed to give on

Mitzvah Day is money.

Instead, it is about

giving something far

more valuable: time.

Mitzvah Day has only

been running in the UK

for five years. Now it

attracts 15,000

volunteers 7 per cent

of the UKs entire

Jewish community and

encompasses 200

synagogues, schools and

community groups the

length and breadth of

Britain, not to mention

France, Israel, Poland,South Africa and the

USA - and half a dozen

other countries besides.

How to explain

its success?

Well, first, in my

experience anyway,

Mitzvah Day is fun. It

avoids the dour

worthiness of most do-

gooding events: kids

making Chanukah Cards

to send to British

soldiers serving abroadget covered in pen and

glue; the guitar comes

out as the teenagers

sing for the old folks

home; even the Rabbi

making bird boxes gets

covered in mud believe

me I know.

Second, it brings peopletogether not just to

talk, but to act. To give

just one example: for

the past two years,

teenagers from

Northwood and Pinner

Liberal Synagogue have

teamed up with thosefrom the nearby Roman

Catholic Church, St

Matthews, to collect

goods for a homeless

charity outside one of

the local

supermarkets.The buzz

and energy of youngpeople throwing

themselves into doing

something good for the

community really lifts

the spirits.

Indeed, amongst the250 or so Mitzvah Day

projects across the

country this year, there

will be joint events not

just with Hindus, but

also Christians, Muslims,

Sikhs, Buddhists and

others.

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Surely this must be

what the Government

means by Big Society:

bringing people together

in a country where too

many people feel

isolated and

disconnected. Both

Mitzvah Day and the Big

Society are about

connecting more of us

with our own power to

make a difference to

the things we care

about. They are about

challenging us to think

harder about our

responsibilities to

others and encouraging

and supporting peoplewho want to contribute

more than their taxes.

It is worth noting that

while the projects on

Mitzvah Day may be led

by Jews, theirbeneficiaries are from

all faiths and from none.

Some are very local,

many are national and

international: Barnados,

Marie Curie, Vision Aid

to name but a handful.

Mitzvah Day at

Camden and

Islington

By Geoff Brennan,

Nurse Consultant

Eating a good pizza and

then taking in a movie. A

typical, lazy Sunday

afternoon? Not

something you would

expect following an

admission to an acutepsychiatric hospital?

Well, on Mitzvah Day

2010, on Fleet Ward at

the Grove Centre in

Camden and Islington,

we created our very own

Pizza and movie

experience with the help

of Danny Rosenburg and

Nick Landau, two very

lovely Mitzvah Day

volunteers.

Should you want to

recreate the experience

yourself, here is the

recipe.

First, take a very

capable Occupational

Therapist called Gillian

Rennie who is willing to

give up her Sunday

afternoon and roll up

her sleeves as well asprovide a good dose of

Scottish humour. This is

an essential ingredient

and you will find you

cannot commence

without it!

Next take a dollop oflaid back but competent

nursing staff to run the

show whilst you make a

bloody awful mess.

Ideally they should be

Jessica, Tamuka,

Richard, and Sona, but

any quality acuteinpatient staff will do.

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Then take a fair

smattering of patients

stuck in the ward for

the Sunday afternoon.If you are very

fortunate, you may get a

bubbly John who

provides music, a mellow

Frank who can talk in

seven languages

including Hebrew, a

succulent Krishna whomakes a demon cup of

tea, a smooth Sourab

who doesnt mind getting

his hands dirty and a

spicy Lysia with words

of encouragement. It is

important to balance

these ingredients and

not to mind if the odd

sour note -like theres

smoke coming out of the

cooker gets into the

mix. You will find that a

pinch of humour leads to

just the right

consistency. Also, do not

worry if others join this

frothy concoction for

short periods as this will

add rather than diminish

from the overall flavour.

Finally, marinade all the

ingredients plus the

Mitzvah volunteers into

a kitchen with flour,

yeast, vegetables,

pepperoni, passata and a

working kettle. Leave

for three hours and stirup occasionally. At this

point you will have eight

large pizzas for public

consumption.

At this point take a

break and go around the

other wards showing off

you skills. Do not, underany circumstances, let

them into the kitchen to

see the unholy mess you

have left behind. This

would not help their

appetite.

After the break, take

the whole mixture and

move to a specially setup Cinema in one of the

large meeting rooms.

Good quality equipment

such as a projector is

essential and you should

be reminded to thankFaizal for getting all

this set up before his

deserved day off.

Before serving, garnish

with people from the

other wards, serve on a

bed of popcorn, sit back

and enjoy.

I recommend it.

Shalom

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The next two features arent overtly Jew-ish, but theresfood and lots of talkingandsinging, so thats enough to qualify for this Judaic themed newsletter.

Its a WRAP at

Broadmoors Service

User Recovery

Conference

The first service user

conference ever held at

Broadmoor Hospital took

place on 13th October

to celebrate World

Mental Health Day 2010.

Patients from all wards

attended.

Jimmy Noak, Deputy

Director of Nursing,

opened the event and

set the theme for the

day. We were

fortunate to have two

renowned externalspeakers in Marion

Janner, Director of

Star Wards

(accompanied by her

assistance dog, Buddy),

and Rachel Perkins, Mind

Champion of the Year

2010. Both are serviceusers and pioneers of

the recovery approach

to mental health care.

Marion spoke about her

own experience of

inpatient services and

how she developed the

Star Wards initiative.

Rachel spoke aboutmaking recovery a

reality and how story

telling is a powerful way

of offering peer

support. She also

introduced us to

Wellness Recovery

Action plans (WRAP).

Both these sessions

were interactive with

several users sharing

their views and

experience.

The Wellness Recovery

Action Plan (WRAP)

prompts service users

with various questions

which help them reflect

on their mental health

and wellbeing, and how

to take an active part in

preserving or restoring

it. It also helps ensure

their wishes sit at the

centre of the care

planning process. Joe

Ayres, Chair of

Recovery & Social

Inclusion Group, and

Terry Fegan, Practice

Development Nursepresented the Hospitals

WRAP, and a number of

service users agreed to

take part in focus

groups and become

WRAP Ward Champions.

The plan is to roll this

out across the hospitalin November and

December.

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An update from Vivienne

Mowatt and David

Phillips on the Hospitals

plans for redevelopment

was followed by songs

from the service userand staff Hospital Vocal

Group, with which

everyone, by then in

celebratory mood,

joined in.

The Choir With No Name

members are London

homeless people

The conference endedwith a lively discussion

around the theme of

recovery and the

introduction of the

WRAP. Feedback on the

day from service users

was extremely positive

and many asked for a

re-run for those who

were unable to attend

this first event. Thanks

to everyone involved,

specific thanks to Joe,

John and Caroline for

the work they put in to

organise this event.

Talkwell Training

pilot evaluation,

Sheffield. By Amy

Bennett, Senior

PractitionerTalkWell training was

approved for a pilot on

Maple Ward in

Sheffield early in 2010

and has recently been

delivered. It was agreed

with the ward managersthat the training would

be delivered over 2 full

study days to all of the

support workers on

Maple, with the other

wards helping to cover

Maples rota in order to

help facilitate thetraining. The study days

were planned to be a

month apart, and

supervision sessions

were planned for the

month in between the

sessions in order to help

facilitate

implementation and

reflection. Added to the

training package was a

session on When does

talking become

treatment?, an

interactive exploration

of the types of talking

treatments we can use

on acute wards, their

theory bases, and how

support staff can assist

in someones

psychological care on a

ward.

The training was

delivered by Amy

Bennett, Senior

Practitioner, Trish

Neilson, PSI lead, and

Emma Highfield, PSI

lecturer and CPN. 7support workers

completed the full

course, and 2 completed

one day of the training.

Evaluations were given

to the participants to

complete at the end of

the training, as well as a

quiz to help assess

knowledge gained. The

ward manager was also

consulted for feedback

on the effects of the

training in practice, in

consultation with the

deputy ward managers.

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Evaluation forms were

given to staff with a mix

of Likert scale answers,

and open questions. It is

evident from this that

the training was deemed

by the participants as

successful, useful and

that people felt they

had learned a lot. In

terms of improving the

training, people felt

they wanted more

information on some of

the approaches within

PSI and CBT, and they

also thought the

qualified nurses should

have been on the

training with them.However, coming away

from a ward

environment as a team

of support workers for

the training was seen as

a very positive team

building exercise, and

the space together toreflect on their practice

and real life examples of

the issues they face

every day was valuable

to them.

The quiz at the end of

the course captured

some of the learning

which had taken place,

and demonstrates that

people had absorbed

some of the key

messages of the

training, both in terms

of knowledge and values.

The ward manager has

given very positive

feedback, reporting

that the staff who

attended the training

have talked about what

they have learned with

him, as well as

discussing some of the

ways it has affected

their practice. In terms

of service user

feedback, none has

specifically been sought

regarding this training,but there are measures

on the Quality and

Dignity survey which are

related to being listened

to and understood which

will be monitored over

time to see if the

results for Maplechange.

Very interactive andall points of view

respected and

considered. As a

group our awarenesshas been raised

regarding ourpatients distress and

our job has beengiven value.

Provided morestructure to 1:1sessions. Learn to

trust my instinctmore to gaininformation ratherthan just to do what

is written on a careplan How can I tellsomeone to challenge

their voices when Idont know what they

feel or think abouttheir voices and howit affects them.

Thinking more abouthow I ask questions,and to chat about

everyday things withpatients could helpthem as much as

discussing treatmentsetc.

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Made me re-look atmy approaches on how

I talk to people and

think/gave me lots of

ideas of how to startand end a talking

session.

It has changed theway I talk to the

clients, and how I amwith them. Also

understanding a lotmore.

We are not justtalking to patients weare offering therapy.1:1 time can have

structure as weencourage patients

through our verbal

cues to open up.Trust the patient

knows his needs anddesires, trust our owninstincts.

Samaritans (story feelings and options) found this very

useful when spending

time with clients.Body language to be

open and smiling atclient can approach

and talk

Have really enjoyedthis training and feel

that the other wards

would benefit fromTalkwell. Have found

it very useful and will

use everything thathave been taught.

Ruby Wax Losing

It at St Anns

Hospital

One of Star Wards much

loved funders is the

incomparable Comic Relief.

Not only do they provide us

with a hugely generous

grant, but they also

offered Star Wards a

special performance of

Losing Itby Ruby Wax and

Judith Owen. Ruby andJudith agreed to come to

my local hospital, St Anns

in Tottenham, to whom Im

totally indebted for the

exceptional care they give

me.

It was a fantastic evening,

and a chance for Star

Wards to thank some of

the people who make it

possible for us to run the

project. Many thanks to

Steve Thomas, Head of

External Communications

and Marketing, Barnet,Enfield and Haringey

Mental Health NHS Trust

for allowing us to

reproduce this article from

their Wellbeing magazine.

And if by any chance Ruby

and Judith are reading this

newsletter (did you noticehow I just casually called

them by their first names?

Cool!) vast thanks to you.

Do I look mad to

you?

Comedian and

broadcaster Ruby Wax

has been very open

about her history of

depression and has now

turned her experiences

into a show, Losing It,

alongside singer-songwriter Judith Owen,

who has also spoken

about her own mental

health problems.

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They performed a

version of their show,

for a specially invited

audience of service

users, staff and friends

of the Trust, at St

Anns Hospital. They

spoke to Steven Thomas

from the Trusts

communications team, to

allow Wellbeing readers

to understand a little

more about the show.

It sounds like something

from a contrived

Hollywood movie. Ruby

is American, but lives in

London. Welsh-bornJudith was raised in

London, but lives in

California. Ruby used to

date Judiths husband,

and introduced the

couple. Theyve known

each other for years, a

relationship which isobvious from the way

they sometimes finish

off one anothers

thoughts. But heres a

relationship with a

difference: both women

are entertainers who

have been unusually open

about their experiences

of mental illness. And

now theyre performing

a show thats about just

that subject.

Ruby is, she says with

her characteristic

bluntness, one of The

Tribe. Thats how she

refers to the one in

four of us who have

experienced mentalillness. But identifying

that she was unwell

wasnt easy, and she

ended up asking a

friend: Do I look mad to

you? She recalls: I

drove her crazy till she

said yes, because Icouldnt tell because it

happened so slowly. My

brain was the problem,

but because its my

brain which Id use to

work out that problem,

it was an even bigger

problem.

The show was conceived

as a kind of instruction

manual, for anyone whos

ever felt like an

outsider. A lot of

people think: How do I

become a successful

businessman? or How

do I carry off a certain

lifestyle? We get

samples in magazines

but we don't actually

know how to do it as

people. So the show

throws up questions and

I give the answers which

are hilarious but true.

The show is a universal

thing, so everyone in the

audience will go: This isme.

Revisiting her mentalillness on stage, Ruby

says, is very cathartic.

It's like you're telling

someone a secret and

then it feels much

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better. Because if they

think it's OK, then it's

OK. And you get to tell

everybody.

Judith wishes she had

spoken up earlier about

her own mental health:

I wish Id had the

courage and the support

to be able to find what I

find now, which is that I

no longer think: How do

I start this

conversation? I kept it

secret for so long, but

now I think: Talk about

it. Talk to whoever, to a

friend. And it helps.

I mention a theory held

by a friend of mine, who

has bipolar disorder. He

thinks his illness is

obvious to others, so hedoesnt need to tell

anyone he has it: he

thinks they just know.

Judith shakes her head.

Ruby says: When youre

unwell, you just go away

and get out of peoples

way. Nobody can tell.

That suggests that the

onus in on each and

every one of us to talk

about how were feeling,

and to invite others to

talk too.

The last few years have

seen a number of very

well-known people

speaking about their

mental health. Is there

something of acompetition among those

in the public eye to have

the best story, or

appear the maddest?

No, Ruby replies

quickly, but it seems

that speaking about

myself makes it easierfor people to talk about

themselves, so I hope

thats a good thing.

Ruby says: When I

first entered a mental

health ward, I thought,

I feel at home. These

are my people. And

although both are now

well, Ruby and Judith

are determined to stick

by their people by

performing in mental

health premises. Now

the show is completely

different because now it

isn't for an audience

that has mental issues.

It's for an audience of

everyone you've ever

met; it's not exclusive.

Only because I had the

slip, do I take you on

the journey at the very

end of going off a cliff.

Losing It continues ontour over the next few

months, and West End

dates are soon to be

announced.

Barnet, Enfield &

Haringey NHS Trust

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Lovely Jewish and Jewishish resources

Serious BooksCaring for Jewish Patientsby Joseph Spitzer

Judaism in Today's World (Religion in Focus)by Janet Orchard and others

Unserious booksHow to Raise a Jewish Dogby Ellis Weiner, Barbara Davilman, and Rabbis of BocaRaton Theological Seminary

Yes, but is it good for the Jewsby Jonny Geller

Haikus for Jewsby David M. Bader

Jewish as a Second Language by Molly Katz and Jeff Moores

Websiteshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/

And finally, an unauthorised, celeb-packed, very unPC and equally hilarious video about

a great American Jewish charity, American Jewish World Servicehttp://bit.ly/ajwsvideo

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http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Joseph%20Spitzerhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Janet%20Orchardhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Haikus-Jews-David-M-Bader/dp/060960502X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291379356&sr=1-1https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jewish-Second-Language-Interrupt-Opposite/dp/0894808850/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290937610&sr=1-6http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/http://bit.ly/ajwsvideohttp://bit.ly/ajwsvideohttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jewish-Second-Language-Interrupt-Opposite/dp/0894808850/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290937610&sr=1-6http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haikus-Jews-David-M-Bader/dp/060960502X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291379356&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Janet%20Orchardhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Joseph%20Spitzer

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Star Wards Dec 2010 Newsletter #55