STaR service - article in MH and Social Inclusion journal

Volume 14 Issue 2 May 20 10

MODERNISAnON Moderoising day services in Birmingha,m - taking service users with us Jane lI" ha koordin Project Manager Da), Services Modernisation, Birmingham City Co uncil Rosina Service user Elaine .. ,I Service user Abstract T his artic le is an acco unt of day serv ice moderni satio n in Birmingham, describing how a r ange of innovative approaches to co nsultatio n wit h se rvice users played a key ro le in res haping day services in the city. Key words f1odernisatio n; Day se rvices; Service use r participati on; Consultati on Backgrou.nd Consultation The reason for change vas nation~d social policy, Wha t followed W::1S a .series of consultation processes coupled Wilh a reporl presented to the City Cabinets that involved service users both as participams Scrutiny COJllmittee, which incl uded a reviev of and facilitator.s. Wie contr3cted a local thi rd sector current day services mamlgect by Birmingham organisarion La facilitate the first of three rounds of CiLl COlillcil. The review recolllmended a radical consul t,nion, and this enabled service users - 111(111) lr3nsfoflnolion from the traditional model of of whom felt unsettled, anxious and fearful at the providing services vithin cby centre buikling.s, to a potential loss of their serv ice - to express these Illore personalised serv ice , focusing on supporting feelings to people who had a shared experie nce of people to maintain, or regain nonmd lives in their menta! health difficulries. 10Gd cOIllIllunities . The review included CI propos:ll Innovalive ami creative methods of engagement to close day centre IJLlildings and rephlce rl1em were used ro ensure rhat as many people as possible with user-led socia l support resollrce hubs, sited in had equal opportunities to pmlicipa te. These included communi!") venues. the follOWing . when we began this journey, we knew it would II Xforkshops and small group discllssions delivered be quite rmum~ltic for some people , es pecially those in p eople s fi rst languages, if other than Eng!ish. who had been coming to day centres for years , and We knOv that many community langu<lges hnd developed highly supportive friendship groups do not have translatable phrases for men tal amLlnd thl.: bUilding. illne.ss, recovery and the many other potentially 1O.5042/mhSi .201 0 .0238zo MenIal FkHllh :md Soci~tl InclUSion ., Vo lume 14 Issue 2 • IV!;l) 2010 © Pier Professional Ltd

n .."n ,ml1 .", ~<~.. rl·""n~."nl.., ..,n """~~ m .." ... ~ •. ~ ___ , . Modernising day services in Birnlinghanl - taking service users with us jargonistic words that we often use. Using ideas ca n be put into reality and , more importantly, trained and k-nowled geab le facilitators who see how each person ca n make an indi vid ual spoke community languages, rather than rel ying contribution [0 the process. on interprete rs, participants were able to fu ll y Xfha t was most sllccessful at this stage was pa rticipate in the discussions. getting se rv ice use rs who rega rded themse lves ,IS• ,(lomen-onl y sessions, giving wo me n the chance being ver) mu ch against < 1I1} of the new proposals to express themselves in the safety of a female- to work closely with ot her service users who were only environment . running the ir own services in the city and managing• (/o rk-shops specificall y run for minority ethni c their mvn budgets. By encou raging people ta community groups, including those under- look not just at what was already in place, but represented wit hin services. innovative and eXCiting projects local ly and region:1l1y, we began Lo increa se th e expecralions ofService users were encouraged to work with the people currently using services, or vho might useproject leam to work through the essential elements them in the fmure.listed in round one o f consult<1tio n into a newse rvice model. VIle did this by llsing person-centred A multi-media approachplanning techniques , Illost Sign ificantly, a pathway Creativity has played a key role in the consu ltationapproach. This enabled people to sta rt w ith the process, ~lIld has proven to be an effective tool invis ion, o r th e dream about wha t the IllOSt inclusive engaging people who traditionally have not had theirand successful da y se rvice could look like, and the n vo ice heard. 13y working with a visual artist both atworking backwa rds to list al l the essen tial steps consu ltation events and individual sess ions, servicethat we needed to take to achieve the d ream. Each users were able to exp ress their views in <l lessparticipant was then able ta clea rl y see how the threarening way than speaking up in a large group. jllental H ealth and Social Inclusion .. Volume"J4 Issue 2 .. May 2010 <C Pier Pro fess ional Ltd :n

Modernising day services in Birmingham - taking service lIsers vvith us essential to show people in the new model th;:H we listened to their views and renected this in the way that the new service could operate. The model was approved by the Councils Adults and Commu nities Cabinet in OclOber 2009, and by December, the majority o f st<lff who had worked in the previous service vere converted into support, time and recovelY (STH) workers to vork within the new STAH service. The adoption of the nationally recognised STR job role rellected the need to deliver an individually focllsed service. By ensuring that staff are trained in person -centred working techniques, all STR workers, whether senior or intermediate level, are equipped ,rq ensure that each individuals goals fOI~ ;ecovery are identified and a support plan is put into place. Regular reviews ensure that the service is individually focused. A media artist was also on hand to digitally People who were once recipients of clay record the vievs of participants. These recordings services are now encollraged to becollle volunteer were then saved 011 to a DVD to ensure that the support, time and recovery workers to help staff real emotional content of vhat people said vas to run social drop- ins and group work. By lllc1king represented LO tl~e councillors vhen they Illel to more use of cOIl1J1ll.lllity facilit ies such .15 libraries, approve the new personalised model. community centres and schools, opportunities for Digital stories were created with service users service users to meet closer to their on home who were already receiving a cOllllllunity-based is increased. menta l health service. For example, a woman who receives direct payments for part or her support Change package was able to convey how he r quality :(e cannot pretend that this has been a smooth of life h<ls improved with increased choice and journey ancl, 1S vith any kind of change, there control over how she receives her support. Another have been some who are not happy with it. But digital story tlke.> the rorm of ~I constructed case we have tried to work in pannership with service study illustrating to staff and service users how users to create a new service model that takes the one strand of the new service could operate. best of the tradi tional model ~l!1d J1l~1rries it with It can be seen on YouTube (Simon s Story - innov::ltive practice frolll across the country to Binllingham City Council: htlp :!/ ~vw.yolltube. create a community-based mental health service to com/watch?v= BsShgOezMAO). be proud o f. l-lere, a service user called Rosinel sh<lres her file n.ew STAR service experiences of being involved in the day services mod.el moclernisation process. The Support, Time and Hecovery (STAR) service model created by service users, staff and ·l/Jel1 I was invited to allend il1ifiaftal/?S on representatives from partnership organisations tbe proposed /lew social model 10 lJIodemise renected the views expressed during the d(;~)} services, my initial reactioll was ol7e q/ consultation stages and this vas crucial. 1t was scepticism. I had grown accl/sto/JIed 10 the22 Iv("nl:tI Heallh ;lnd Social Inclusion • Volume 14 Issue 2 • 1vlay 2010 © Picr Professional Ltd

>t n O::>SluaAa-iue::>lIl1 eaYMMM l!S!A asea1 ·s"Jua a u " , ::til, .l . . _ r • o }/oq 5!~J :")1 ;/lUld r~!IIed(l1o:J ilIiII1 Wf»j UOjlFWJOjU/ o J<oq {Ill ~11 "I"ald UOII"W10}U! I!II iI~!niJJOl 1S!"lONOa nolOJ/ ilI!ue6Jo;tM 1~11 rJuil~aJiI!jlo Jo s/!elap III" no.( ill"pdn 0) pam iq ,few pUll ....a);JJ OJ u{IM ION no nolO II JjUM" InO IF tiumq!1lla 10 Modernising clay services in Binl1ingham - taking service users ,vith us cOI1~lorl ql6lttending my day centre (mel did Elaine, who helps Lo run a five clay a week social not welcome tbe sellse qf cha11ge, especia/(jI support project, run by service llsers and fu nded the idea oImovil7g 10 6111o/ber builr:Nng. by Birmingham Cit) Counci l and NHS South l-Joweve/~ 011 rejlectlon, wben Ile6/1I11 1I10re Birmingham speaks honesll) abOl.ll her involvement about Ibe,FlI1cfion and plflpose q/ hubs in the process and how she tried to give people beillg setup Ill the local com1l1ul1i~), the idea - who vere used to llsing da) centres - the slow(JI grew on me. confidence to try things for themselves: 1 bad preViously 6111ell-ded tbe London ] bave been involved with Iheforumfrom. the Development Cenlm Hub and on .fh:<;t beginning and we 6JI Sailley./ell fh6fl cuflli17g "impressions S61l/J 6{ set up tbal was warm it tbe £Perls Forum was more appropriate all-d./dend(ll. qtlerlng service users/ailb 6/S we bad become e.J..perls in this,Feld q( and culturally sel1sifive services, tbe space designing and developing services tbal are 611761 time toji/Sl relax 6/1161 socialise with (he service user-led. This whole process bas been added benefit o/education 61J?d training- velY imporlant to my own deuelopmel1t and em oppOrlllllif:v to bllild a career- gradI/ClI(J! lor Ibe development qf Saltley. I am attending appealed 10 /lie. Irail1il1g courses, evel1ls and cOI~/erel1ces thaI will helj) us Clnd tbe cOlluHUJ1i~)J. I am. 611so To be able 10 shape a new service bas encolfraging 111) fellow service users to {aile been rea/~1 1 mwmding. Ilmowjiul1I my up lbese OfJP011~/;1itje~ ;md to be ready/or e:",periences q/ (minil7g witb Ihe new wor/zers, new ch(jfllenges and cbal1ges. be STAl? seIVice will qUer a much more jJe~"Son centred way (!lworidng . I bave been encouraged /0 receive some sbll- based (/,aining 611161 now loolz./orward 10 implementing iI. For more information on the STAH service m(~cle1, bich offers suppOrL ~111c1 !:ime to enable recovery For pe()ple:- ,,,illl mental healrh clillitLllties, ple<llse conta(.t: Jane Thakoordin, Proj<:xt Manager Day Services Mocit:rnikntiol1, Birmingham CiIY Council, telephone: 0121 30: 6604; e-illail: jllllc.m.thakoorclin@hil:lnil1gbHm.gov.uk Jane Thakoorditt qU fllifi<::d as a Social Xfork!.:r 18 yeH.r~ ~Igo afrer a tareer as an un teacher. She has led this organisatinntd cbange for the bst three ye:·rrs. ROSina is hoth ::t lIser of services ane! cmer for her brother who h;;ls me-nml he[.t!th (.1i1fiGlIl(ie~. She h~l5> heen in ....trumena! in encour~ging some of the most marginalised pcopk - Asian wom(:~fl and me11 - to p~lrtidp::le not only in Lhis conslilmrion, bur in wicler forLlms tvhere their vie~S ~lre heing heard <Ind HtLeci upon. Elaine .had Llsed i.l ll1elll ~d he~dth clay service for 111(111) ye~J·s before it w~s threatened with closur~ . Her re5>ponr;e -;V::IS to join with others to run the centre themselves. lhey nmv rece:hre a third 1)(Ctor grunl ancl are an independent sodal support project open I- ·e clays per Veek. h t...lenlai He;]lrh and Soc ial Inclusion • Volume 14 l ssuc 2 • Illa y 2010 © Pier Professional Ltd

STaR service - article in MH and Social Inclusion journal

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