Since joining us 7 months ago as a Community Mental Health Practitioner, Jen 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 seven months. One that stands out is with a gentleman, John* (name changed).
John’s Team Leader got in touch with me to ask for support as he was unsettled, agitated and there was the potential for him to pose a risk to himself and his support team. John has schizoaffective disorder, and he was experiencing particularly distressing delusional thoughts, which meant he did not want to interact with anyone or leave the house.
I worked with John’s multidisciplinary team to find out more about him, what his baseline presentation is, and the best way to support him to manage his thoughts. I had regular visits with him to build a rapport. When he experienced delusions, I knew it was key not to challenge them outright or to feed into them, but to be calm, accepting and divert his attention to something else. As well as working with his MDT, I reviewed John’s medication and provided bespoke training to his support team.
John still experiences delusional thoughts, but they are much less distressing, and he and his team have strategies in place to help him manage them. The impact on his life has been huge – he now goes out for walks, trips to the local café for a coffee, and he has started visiting a day centre in Sefton where he is looking in to taking part in some of the activities and sessions – which is a huge step forward.
What would you say is important about ‘Community’, the theme for this week’s Mental Health Awareness Week?
The difference you see when people access their community is incredible.
There are so many services with something to suit everyone and if you feel apprehensive, just know that everyone has felt the same way.
There are many options and resources in place to support you to take that first step, whether you feel most comfortable in a group session, one to one, or by using something like a befriending service.
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.