WE’RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU

WE’RE RIGHT

BEHIND YOU

Words: Jackie Rankin Photo: Joel Goodman

Rob Stroud (centre) with The Life Rooms Wellbeing Support team members Tony Kley and Lousie Mulcahy (left) and Alan Price and Jade Draper (right).

Rob Stroud has lived with anxiety as long as he can remember. Traumatic life events left him close to suicide. When he visited The Life Rooms near his home in Southport, Robert was sceptical.

I was a mental health nurse myself but the stigma stops you from talking about it. From the moment I walked in and was greeted by Diane the receptionist, I felt I was among people who understood.”

Rob is supported by the Wellbeing Support team, set up to help people under the care of community mental health services, offering help to prevent them descending into crisis. The team makes a wellbeing call to ask how someone is doing should the person need extra support, they can be referred to Life Rooms services, such as the Learning Team and the Pathways advice service for help with housing, employment or other issues that can affect people’s health. Team Manager Jade Draper explains the approach. “A simple call gives people who are managing their wellbeing an extra cushion of support. Most importantly it relieves pressure on clinical teams so they can focus on those most at risk of becoming more unwell.” The approach proved so successful that it has since supported Mersey Care’s Asperger’s service. Support workers linked in with people waiting for an Autism Spectrum Disorder assessment, to ask how they were coping and encourage them into Life Rooms services. The team drew on its diverse skills and personal experience. Alan Price is a former Life Rooms service user and volunteer. Tony Kley worked in a contact centre after leaving the armed forces. Louise Mulcahy had supported children in care and the homeless community. In its first year the team made contact with more than 10,000 people. “It worked because we made decisions collectively”, said Jade Draper. “We each had the same aims and goals – and we quickly discovered how versatile we could be!”

Head of Integration Gary Thorpe agrees: “The team designed a simple service using the experiences of its people, with fantastic results.”