Reading for resilience : Poster on bibliotherapy

1. Reading for resilience: One way to ‘DO’ bibliotherapy
S. Bailey1, S. Iverson2, C. Ziegler2
1Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, 2 St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Two primary types of bibliotherapy
Clinical or prescriptive
• Usually practiced in clinical settings
• Often utilizes prescribed readings eg. CBT workbooks
• Includes self-help books recommended by healthcare
practitioners
• Most famous is the “Books on Prescription” scheme in the
UK – partnership between public libraries and the NHS1
• Includes distribution of printed patient education materials
Creative or developmental/social
• Reading for meeting ‘normal’ challenges of life
• May include fiction, poetry and other reading materials
• May be done in groups or 1-1
• Not necessarily in clinical settings
What is bibliotherapy?
“Reading to assist in the process of coping with life”5
Who are we?
St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto
St. Michael’s Hospital is an inner city teaching hospital with a history of
caring for people who experience disadvantage. The hospital was
founded in 1892 by the Sisters of St. Joseph, an order dedicated to
service to and with people who are sick, poor, at risk and vulnerable.
Our library
• Services for all staff, physicians and students
• 9 staff members
• Manager is also a practicing psychotherapist
Our bibliotherapy partners: Mental Health and Addictions Service
1. Supporting Transitions and Recovery (STAR) Learning Centre
• Community based recovery and learning centre
• Adult education model
• Designed to help people transition from homelessness
• Offers a range of free classes from skills training to arts-based recreation
2. Inpatient Psychiatric Service
• Treatment modalities include psychiatric care, pharmacological treatment, ECT, supportive therapy, primary nursing
and group activities
• Provisions of care strive to reflect principles of the recovery model
Program Overview
• Programs ran in 2015 and 2016
• Two 6-8 week programs in each unit
• 3-8 participants in each session
• STAR participants signed up in advance
• Inpatient participants were drop-in
• Peer support workers co-facilitated together with a
librarian and a librarian/psychotherapist
• Reading packages were provided to participants
The Program
Reading for resilience
References & Acknowledgments: Our bibliotherapy program was informed by a number of similar programs found around the world, most notably in the UK (Get into Reading Program)3,6 as well as the Reading for Recovery project out of Rutgers University and many others. Many of the readings and themes
utilized in our programs were initially featured in a program (Read to Connect) developed by N. Tukhareli for St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto.
1. “About | Reading Well”. Reading-well.org.uk. n.p., 2017. http://reading-well.org.uk/about
2. Berthoud, Ella, and Susan Elderkin. 2013. The novel cure: an A-Z of literary remedies. Edinburgh: Canongate; 2013.
3. Davis J. Enjoying and enduring: groups reading aloud for wellbeing. Lancet. 2009 Feb; 373:714-5.
4. Gold, J. Read for your life. Toronto (ON): Fitzhenry & Whiteside; 2001.
5. Gold, J. The story species: Our life-literature connection. Toronto (ON): Fitzhenry & Whiteside; 2003.
6. Hodge S, Robinson J, Davis P. Reading between the lines: The experiences of taking part in a community reading project. Med Humanit. 2007: 33(2):100-4.
7. McCulliss, D. Bibliotherapy: Historical and research perspectives. Journal of poetry therapy. 2012 Mar 1; 25(1):23-38.
8. Tukhareli N. Healing through books: The evolution and diversification of bibliotherapy. Lewiston (NY): Edwin Mellen Press; 2014.
Outcomes
Learning for all
Evaluation
• Basic written evaluations were collected from participants which provided an opportunity for them to provide feedback on
both the sessions and the reading materials
• Participants were extremely generous with their evaluations and also offered some limited suggestions for additional topics
• Informal interviews were held with peer-support workers, who provided constructive comments on possible improvements
Reflections and planned improvements
• Longer readings were less popular, particularly with the inpatient group, many of whom struggle with concentration issues
• Partnering with peer-support workers, therapists, or others trained in clinical counselling is essential when delivering
bibliotherapy interventions with vulnerable populations
• Some themes (gratitude, forgiveness & compassion) caused some difficulties and should be re-examined. Lived experience
readings were very popular and more should be added
Structure of the read-aloud group sessions
Peer support workers and STAR participants engaged in reading together
Historical timeline
Sample Reading
The Readings
• Readings selected by librarians included poetry,
fiction, and non-fiction
• Readings were read aloud mostly by facilitators
• Facilitated group discussions, following each reading
or group of readings, allowed for participants to share
their reflections, feelings and experiences in a
supportive environment
Themes:
• Each week focused on a different theme
• Proposed themes thought to be relevant to the
client group were reviewed by peer support workers
and in the case of the inpatient group by a
psychiatrist
• Themes and readings were modified and adapted
for each group
• Themes included: Loneliness, Resilience, Gratitude,
Courage, Positive Thinking, Forgiveness, Love, Giving,
Responsibility, Lived Experience