Since joining us 8 months ago as a Community Mental Health Practitioner, Amie has had a huge impact for the people we support and their support teams.
What is the role of a Community Mental Health Practitioner?
My role is to deliver effective interventions and coordinate care plans for adults with mental health problems. The role will look different for each organisation you are based at – here at AFG I am on hand to provide advice on anyone we support who may be experiencing ill mental health, as well as supporting any operational colleagues who need additional training to support an individual with ill mental health.
What does an average day look like for you?
It’s incredibly varied. One day I might be providing bespoke training to a support team who have requested additional learning on an individual and their diagnosis – for example, recently I delivered training for a team on an individual with Emotional Unstable Personality Disorder.
The next I might be visiting an individual on my caseload to review whether the interventions/medication we have put in place are still contributing to their progress.
Every six weeks I hold a ‘Mental Health Forum’ with Team Leaders to enable learning around complex diagnoses. We have a different focus for each forum – for example hoarding, delirium, delusions – and we will share best practice, resources and encourage Team Leaders to speak about their experiences to enable shared learning.
I am also consistently monitoring new referrals and whether any clinical support may be needed, as well as being on hand for crisis calls, where I will either triage or provide an assessment and referral to a support service depending on the need.
What has been your proudest moment so far?
I’m pleased to say that there have been a lot of positive outcomes for the people I have worked with over the last eight months. It is incredibly difficult to choose just one positive story. One that stands out is with a woman we support called Marie who lives in one of our supported living properties.
She has a diagnosis of schizophrenia which she had been managing well, however when she was out in the community one day she unfortunately broke her hip, which led to a deterioration of her mental health. She began to experience delusional ideation and developed a phobia of leaving the house.
I received a call from her support team and conducted an assessment, began visiting her on a weekly basis, liaised with the community mental health team to review her medication, worked with physiotherapy to build on confidence with walking, and provided guidance and training to her support team on the best way to approach her delusions.
When we began to see some improvements, along with her support team, we began exposure therapy starting with going outside the front door and building up step by step.
Marie’s support team understood how best to motivate her and build up her confidence slowly but surely, and she now goes into the local town on her own again, which has had a hugely positive impact on her health and wellbeing.
I have recently been working with a female in one of our supported living properties who was having frequent admissions to mental health hospitals. I have provided weekly support, working closely with her NHS community mental health team, submitted referrals to external organisations for specialist psychological therapies, implemented safety plans and worked closely with support staff to deliver person centred training / interventions. She has remained out of hospital for 3 months. We have been working together to set goals and she has recently been talking about getting back into employment and starting driving lessons. It has been amazing to witness such a positive change.
What would you say is important about ‘Community’, the theme for this week’s Mental Health Awareness Week?
I would also want to raise awareness about the new mental health support service available through 111 – you can press option 1 for physical health, and option 2 now takes you through to a local mental health crisis line. You can find more information here.