Mental Health

Bulimia nervosa is the eating disorder in which a person purges and binges.? (bulimia nervosa look like) The person suffering with bulimia nervosa, eat a lot of food at a time and try to get rid of food using laxatives, vomiting or sometimes over-exercising. It’s a condition where the person thinks a lot about his body, shape and weight.? (Bulimia Nervosa) It affects the capability of having normal eating model. Bulimia is connected with psychiatric disorders and depression and also shares symptoms with another major eating disorder which is known as anorexia nervosa.

It is very difficult to conclude that the person is suffering from Bulimia. This is because the person suffering from bulimia purges and vomits in secret. People suffering from bulimia often refuse their condition and they do not like to share their symptoms with others. If bulimia nervosa is not treated it may lead to fatal complications and nutritional deficiencies. Although there are several theories, people do not have much knowledge about this and they do not have clear idea on what causes bulimia nervosa.

Bulimia is said to have a genetic component.? (Bulimia treatment). A women who has a mother or a sister suffering with bulimia nervosa, has a greater risk of developing bulimia nervosa. Psychological factors like impulsive behaviors, having low self-esteem and not able to control anger are also the factors which may cause bulimia nervosa. A chemical in the parts of the brain known as serotonin has something to do with bulimia nervosa.

The impact of above factors may lead to low level of serotonin which causes bulimia nervosa. The symptoms and signs of bulimia nervosa include repeated episodes of eating large amounts of foods i. e. , Binge eating, loss of control over eating, fasting, heart burn, constipation, indigestion, dental problems, weakness, sore throat, bloodshot eyes, irregular periods, vomiting blood, mood swings or depression, swollen glands in face and neck, using the bathroom regularly after meals etc.

, The medical complications caused from bulimia include dental cavities caused due to sensitivity of hot and cold food, soreness and swelling in the salivary glands due to repeated vomiting, wearing away of tooth enamel due to frequent exposure to acidic gastric contents, stomach ulcers, electrolyte imbalance, irregular heartbeat, suicidal behavior, decrease in libido etc. , The people who are with a family history of substance abuse and mood disorders, low self-esteem and white-middle class women who are mostly college students and teenagers are at high risk of getting bulimia nervosa.

Ten percent of the college age women are affected by bulimia in United States. Ten percent of people diagnosed with this disease are men. Ten percent of people suffering from this disease may die due to cardiac arrest, starvation, suicide or even with other medical complications. I have a personal experience with people suffering from bulimia nervosa. My best friend Shan was bulimic since she was young. At first she started by a loss of appetite and uncontrollable loss of weight. She heard on shows that someone was using a toothbrush.

She used to vomit using that. She was always depressed and did not want to gain weight again. The only way she thought was to keep it off by purging. She has a huge tea and then throws it up. She has lot of breakfast and lunch and then she purges it out. If she doesn’t vomit after eating, she gets bad heartburn and end up being sick. She went from 200 pounds down to 120. Every time she does it by telling herself that this is the last time she is purging. It has become a habit and now she can’t get rid of it.

She is undergoing treatment from the doctor since 2 months and now she is feeling better than before. It is difficult to be cured at once. Many people may improve with treatment but some feel that there are some issues after the treatment also. The aim of the treatment is to encourage healthy eating, help people to be stronger both mentally and physically, reduce risk of harm caused by bulimia nervosa. According to the community based study, the prevalence of bulimia nervosa with an even social class distribution is 0. 5% to 1%. About 90% of people suffering with bulimia nervosa are women.

In industrialized countries, the prevalence of bulimia nervosa is greater compared to that of the non-industrialized countries. White American women have a greater prevalence of binge eating while compared to African-Asian women. A community based control study compared 102 people suffering from bulimia nervosa with 204 healthy people; it found that people with bulimia nervosa had higher risks of mood disorder, physical and sexual abuse, and higher rate of obesity, parental obesity, parental shape/weight concern, and early menarche.

People suffering from bulimia nervosa, needs lot of support from their parents and family members. Family members should be prepared for resistance, denial and even anger from the patient. This is a very dangerous disease which can even cause death. Many health programs and treatment facilities have been created to fight with this disease. But the major problem about this disease is that, this disease goes unreported or even unnoticed. Therefore the family members need to be cautious about the symptoms and signs of the disease so that they can easily recognize the problem in friends and family members.

Recognition is the foremost step to help the people to be cured of this disease. REFERENCES: 1. Matthew Tiemeyer, What Does Bulimia Nervosa Really Look Like? March 5, 2009. http://eatingdisorders. about. com/od/whatisbulimianervosa/a/bulimiahub. htm 2. Bulimia Nervosa and binge eating disorder, Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health eJournal. 1997. http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/431281_4 3. Bulimia treatment, Signs and symptoms of eating disorder, 2009 http://www. bulimia-treatment. net/signs. php

Personal characteristics of a human services professional can be both essential and detrimental for success. Essential characteristics of a professional do not make the job easier. However, they create a higher tendency for the professional to work successfully with clients. An open-minded professional recognizes differences between themselves and clients. They treat those differences with respect and include them in treatment according to the clients’ desires. Judgment can be appropriate in a human services setting. For example, a counselor may judge a recently relapsed client by revoking privileges within a clinic.

Patience is the most essential characteristic. A professional must be able to deal with relapses in negative behavior. They cannot let human weakness impede progress. Professionals who choose the human services field in order to help people make genuine progress with clients. They maintain connections that benefit both parties. Detrimental characteristics of a professional do not make the job impossible. However, they can impede a professional’s relationship with their client when unchecked. A narrow-minded professional does not recognize differences between themselves and clients.

They assume that differences result from a harmful lifestyle on the clients’ behalf. Judgment becomes inappropriate when it results in ill-informed assessments of the client. For example, judging a mother as incompetent without a full assessment is inappropriate. Impatience from professional to client can cause the professional to rush the clients’ progress. Internalized impatience within the professional can cause a lot of mistakes. Professionals who choose the human services field mainly for money make artificial progress with clients. The quality of their work is usually lacking.

On the one hand, understanding both types of characteristics can provide a platform for change. On the other hand, that understanding merely provides a distinction for self-limitations. Aspiring professionals need to have or develop specific skills prior to employment in the human services field. Organizational skills are key to updated client information as well as clients themselves. A personal system – however ordered or disordered – must be easy for the aspiring professional to access and peruse. They must be able to find information as soon as they need it for whatever reason.

are key to creating connections with clients. Active listening includes physically and verbally showing the client that their message is being received. An aspiring professional must be prepared to create a report with their clients. Their ability to communicate effects the process of their relationship. Professional writing is key to documenting communication with and progress of the client. The aspiring professional must be prepared to use this skill daily. Moreover, other professionals may need to understand the writing.

So if the aspiring professional uses shorthand, they must be prepared to provide a legend. Basic recognition of symptoms is key to referring clients to other professionals. For example, a nurse who encounters a patient who seems to need a referral to the behavioral health unit. When questioned, he or she must be able to provide specific rather than vague reasons. Safety training is key to effectively responding to emergency situations. Basic firefighting and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) abilities are essential to potential to saving the lives of one’s self, clients, and fellow professionals.

Overall, an aspiring professional must understand how to preserve life until more qualified professionals arrive. These specific skills will not only help professionals develop effective, positive relationships with their clients. They will also help professionals overcome personal roadblocks to successfully carrying out their work. Skills become more effective as they develop. Even an aspiring professional who naturally has these skills can only benefit from continually developing them even after entering the human services field. Primary and secondary education (K-12) teach students organization skills and practices.

Aspiring professionals can use these techniques as foundation for adult application. They can take the basic and develop them according to their individual needs. An institution of higher education (i. e. college or university) provides students with in-depth lessons for communication and professional writing skills. They help students work effectively and successfully within a professional setting of various sorts. Many employers in the human services field expect aspiring professionals to have a basic recognition of symptoms as well as safety training.

Therefore, many provide continuous training for employees after they have obtained employment. Consistent development of these skills ensures the relevance and ease of their application. It also ensures that the professional will easily recall the lessons when needed. Learning is fundamental, but practice is vital. Actually putting learned lessons to use when applicable ensures ease of use by the professional with continued practice. Constructive criticism measures the effectiveness of practice from an outside point of view. It informs the professional of how their practices are perceived by others.

Application of feedback combines learning, practice, and constructive criticism. This assemblage is important to the formation of a successful human services worker with their given field. As long as skills are continually developed within accredited settings, then the specific location of development does not matter. That the skills are developed is most important. Yet, while some aspiring professionals have some difficulty developing these skills, others will have an easier time. They are “natural born helpers”. “Natural born helpers” (NBH) exist.

An NBH is someone with a set of traits that easily lend themselves toward helping others in the human services field. On the one hand, these traits will develop naturally mentally, psychologically, and emotionally as the individual matures into an adult. On the other hand, the environments in which the individual matures can be conducive in the advancement of these traits. An NBH tends to be somewhat sociable. They can be outgoing and conversational when necessary. Active listening is a skill that an NBH naturally has a tendency toward from birth.

An NBH usually develops the ability of understanding in their environment because they naturally tend toward it. An NBH is born with the ability to be resourceful then naturally develops it as they mature. An NBH tends to either be aloof or overly-friendly in response to being overloaded with human service-like needs (i. e. counseling). Drama tends to naturally gravitate toward an NBH because their need to help is apparent. The tendency toward helping many people concurrently leaves an NBH with little time for themselves.

As a result, an NBH usually has a reputation as being meddlesome. An NBH needs to find a healthy balance between being aloof and friendly with clients. An NBH must learn early on how to tell whether or not they can help someone. Delegating time between self and others is crucial for an NBH in order to maintain healthiness. Finally, the desire to help should never challenge a person’s desire to be left alone. Some people are born with attributes that either make it easier to work as human services professionals or that drive them toward the human services field.

The word counseling can be defined as the process of helping persons who are fundamentally psychologically healthy or otherwise resolve developmental and situational issues. Supervisory techniques are essential and incorporate some advances that may not be themselves referred as counseling such as creative problem solving but have similar aim. A successful counselor has a mature and well balanced state of mind and temperament and places him/her self in the shoes of the counselee, and has the ability to respect their (counselee) opinions, thoughts, feelings and emotions.

After evaluating the story as described, a realistic, practical solution can be developed individually at first if this is beneficial, and then jointly to encourage the participants to give their best efforts at orienting their relationship with each other. It must be noted that the change in situations like financial status, physical health, and the influence of family members and friends can have an adverse negative influence on the conduct, responses and actions of the those counselee.

The scope of counseling covers a wide and diversified field of study as it includes what one would imagine far and beyond these identified topics;- Abortion counseling, Brief therapy, Career Counseling, Christian counseling, Counseling psychology, Credit counseling, Cross-cultural counseling, Disaster counseling, Disciplinary counseling, Ecological counseling, Family & marriage counseling, Genetic counseling, Grief & trauma counseling, Marriage counseling, Pastoral counseling, Relationship counseling , Rehabilitation counseling, Sexual trauma counseling, Suicide intervention etc. 1.

0) Pregnancy Options and Abortion counseling This provides information and support for a pregnant woman who is considering between the choices regarding the continuation of the pregnancy. The choices include continuing the pregnancy for parenting or adoption and pregnancy termination. In reality, qualified advisors take the information with certainty and encouragingly that helps each woman make the best decision for her. Counselors require up-to-date knowledge of local and national laws governing women’s pregnancy choices, especially concerning adolescents and their rights to make such decisions.

The tie between forced abortion and mental health is no more associated with psychological danger than carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term. Psychological effects of abortion It was noted that adverse emotional reactions to the abortion are influenced by pre-existing psychological conditions and other negative factors and, furthermore, that well-being was separately and positively related to employment, income, and education, but negatively related to total number of children. The kind of stress and the amount of stress women experience varies from culture to culture.

Emotional distress may occur in a majority of women who are contemplating or have had an abortion due to a number of factors, including pre-existing mental health problems, the status of the woman’s relationship with her partner, poor economic status, poor social network, or conservative views held on abortion. The term “post-abortion syndrome” was used as it was stated that it had been observed post-traumatic stress disorder which developed in response to the stress of abortion.

While some studies have shown a correlation between abortion and clinical depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors, or adverse effects on women’s sexual functions for a small number of women, these correlations may be explained by pre-existing social circumstances and emotional health and various factors, such as emotional attachment to the pregnancy, lack of support, and conservative views on abortion, may increase the likelihood of experiencing negative reactions. Abortion might mean a selection of women at higher risk for suicide because of reasons like depression.

The study concluded that compared to other women in the group those who had an abortion were subsequently more likely to have “mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors and substance use disorders. 1. 1) Career Counseling Career choices are based on matching personal traits (aptitude, abilities, resources, personality) with job factors (wages and environment for success. This framework contains three sections: a) Acquaintance with the necessary requirements and conditions of achievement, positive and negative effects, returns, opportunities, and prospects in different area’s of work.

b) A true reasoning of the relations of these two groups of facts 1. 2) Christian counseling Christian counseling is carried out by a qualified counselor who upholds Christian ethics values, beliefs and philosophy. The uniting element is the therapist, who has integrated a combination of Christianity, psychology, and psychotherapy into the applied program. Counselees look at Biblical guidance and counseling as a perfect relationship with a caring counselor directed toward increased awareness of themselves, others, the societies and cultures in which they live, and their understanding of the Christian God.

The therapy may take an ad-hoc approach, focusing simply on the therapy session itself. Clients may be more comfortable with a Christian counselor, and they may feel such a person’s advice is more sensitive to their personal or religious needs. Some clients also wish to use the Christian Bible as a reference for their counseling sessions and therapy. 1. 3) Disciplinary counseling A disciplinary counseling is a session or a meeting between an employer and an employee or a supervisor and his/her junior employee.

It may focus and put more emphasis on a specific work place scenario or in carrying out a performance appraisal. The counseling process may be scheduled, initiated and executed by the supervisor and is not considered disciplinary. It is conducted in ultimate privacy, and is intended to have a constructive goal of providing feedback to the employee to correct the problem. 1. 4) Pastoral counseling Pastoral or Biblical counseling is a branch of therapy in which ordained ministers, rabbis, priests and others provide therapy services.

These include Marriage and Family Counselors. Pastoral counseling is essentially a non-licensure. Counselees often will not pay for pastoral counseling of counselors without state licensing which is often synonymous with pastoral care that include Christian Counselors, Clinical pastoral education.. 1. 5) Rehabilitation counseling This type of counseling takes interest on assisting those with disabilities to achieve their personal, career, and independent living goals through a counseling process.

Though educational programs have began to appear, it is not until the availability of adequate funding for rehabilitation counseling programs that the profession begun to grow and establish its own identity. 1. 6) Suicide intervention Counseling Suicide intervention is an effort to stop or prevent persons attempting or contemplating suicide from killing themselves. Individuals who utter the intention cause harm to self are routinely determined to lack the present mental capacity to refuse treatment, and can be transported to an emergency department against their will.

Medical advice pertaining people who attempt or consider suicide is that they should immediately go or be taken to the nearest emergency room, or emergency services should be called immediately by them or anyone aware of the problem. Modern medicine treats suicide as a mental health issue. According to medical practice, severe suicidal ideation, that is, serious contemplation or planning of suicide is a medical emergency and that the condition requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Those suffering from depression are considered as high-risk group for suicidal behavior.

When depression is a major factor, successful treatment of the depression usually leads to the disappearance of suicidal thoughts. However, medical treatment of depression is not always successful, and lifelong depression can contribute to recurring suicide attempts. 1. 7) Career Counseling A career was initially taken as a course of successive situations that make up a person’s work life. One can have a sporting, musical or any other without being a real professional athlete or musician, but most frequently “career” in the 20th century referenced the series of jobs or positions by which one earned one’s money.

Career Assessments are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and helps individuals to identify and better articulate their unique interests, values, and skills. These type of advisors evaluates major interests, values and skills, of the client and also help them explore career options and research graduate and professional schools. This field is vast and includes career placement, career planning, learning strategies and student development.

Typically when people come for career counseling they know exactly what they want to get out of the process, but are unsure about how it will work Career counselors work with people from all walks of life such as adolescents looking to explore career options or with experienced professionals looking for a career change. Career advisors normally have psychology, vocational psychology, or industrial/organizational setting. The approach of career counseling varies by practitioner, but generally they include the completion of one or more assessments. 1.

8 Credit counseling It is also known as debt counseling. This is a process offering education to consumers about how to avoid incurring debts that cannot be repaid. This process is actually more debt counseling than a function of credit education. This type counseling involves discussing with lenders in ascertaining a debt management plan (DMP) for a consumer. A DMP may help the debtor repay his or her debt by working out a repayment plan with the creditor. DMPs, set up by credit counselors, usually offer reduced payments, fees and interest rates to the client.

It merely gives a fresh start and an opportunity for the client to begin building a positive credit history. Criticism for credit counseling These sharp increases of credit counseling activity also created other, more serious issues in the industry and they include: a) Exploitation by most credit guidance organizations are so significant which leads to criticism of the entire industry. b) Another common criticism of credit counseling is the assertion that participating in a Debt Management Plan will ruin a consumer’s credit.

d) Severally many credit advice firms hire untrained staff to do credit counseling. References 1) Swanson, J. L. and Parcover, J. A. (1998). Annual Review: Practices and Research in career counseling and development — 1997. The Career Development Quarterly. 47, 2, 98-135. 2) Kim, B. S, Li, L. C. , and Lian, C. T. (2002) Effects of Asian American client adherence to Asian cultural values, session goal, and counselor emphasis of client expression on career counseling process. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 3, 342-354.

Introduction

The Rethink.org website states, “Recovery can be defined as a personal process of tackling the adverse impact of experiencing mental health problems, despite their continuing or long-term presence. Used in this sense, recovery does not mean “cure”.

Recovery is about people seeing themselves as capable of recovery rather than as passive recipients of professional interventions. The personal accounts of recovery suggest that much personal recovery happens without (or in some cases in spite of) professional help.”

The introduction of recovery and its acceptance has been a gradual process but one which has gained much ground over the last few years. It is important to consider the strengths of individuals and work in partnership with them to support empowerment. Where once a service user may have been viewed as a series of maladies and symptoms and within the context of a primarily medical model, it is now recognised that each service users is different, with differing backgrounds, abilities, aspirations, desires, protective factors etc.

The recovery model grew out of substance misuse services around the world, particularly within the United States from the 1990s. By then, long term research studies had been completed which showed complete or partial recovery from psychiatric disorders and illnesses. Kilbride and Pitt said, “The overall research findings support the concept that recovery is a process rather than an end point or a cure… It is an uneven process without a definitive end and is a relative concept, meaning contrasting things to different people.” (p.20). With the concept of recovery in mind I applied myself to thinking about an innovative service which could be provided by my team.

Many of our service users experience social isolation. It is very common when speaking with patients that they describe a cycle of low mood, leading to a decreased desire to go out and be involved in community activities, leading to boredom and lack of identity, causing further low mood, and so on. I asked the service users with whom I work what sort of service they would like to see set up and overwhelmingly they told me that they would appreciate an opportunity to increase their social contact. Some of the service users I support experience a loss of self confidence following an episode of psychotic illness and can also experience difficulties with their self image when they have experienced personal reactions, feelings and ideas which were contrary to their premorbid behaviours. Rebuilding this self image and confidence in order to take account of this new information is an important part of recovery in many cases.

I decided therefore to think about an opportunity for service users to interact socially with others. When speaking with service users I was often told that while they would appreciate increased socialisation they did not feel very enthusiastic about doing so within an exclusively “mental health” environment. I was told that they wanted to demonstrate to themselves that they were able to form social relationships with people from the wider community, rather than simply ones based on the shared (and somewhat incidental) experience of being a user of mental health services. The people I spoke with seemed to feel that it was more “normalising” to be with a mixture of people, including some who have never used services or experienced significant mental illness.

The London Borough of Southwark, where my team is based, is an area which contains much deprivation and many socially excluded young people. A study, undertaken in three areas of England, and published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, (March 2006), found that, “The incidence of all diagnoses was greater in Southeast Londonthan Nottingham or Bristol after standardization for age andsex. These differences remained after further adjustment forethnicity, except for affective disorders. This suggests truly”psychotogenic” effects of that environment or population stratificationin terms of psychosis risk and needs exploring in further detail.” They also found a large discrepancy in rates of psychosis onset and ethnic background. “The observed 3-fold increased incidence of psychoses in the BME group compared with the white British group is important, particularly because this was found across study centres and broad diagnoses. A tendency to preferentially classify symptoms as schizophrenia in BME groups cannot have led to these findings”. The implications of this and similar studies are wide ranging for the planning of mental health and social services but may be at least partially addressed on a local level by services that bring local communities together and increase individual socialisation, an aspect of life often missing from deprived, urban environments.

Kawachi and Berkman’s journal article, Social Ties and Mental Health, states “…human relations consist of multiple layers extending out from the ego. These layers extend from the most intimate relations (e.g., marital ties), outward to social networks (e.g., connections to close relatives and friends), and to “weak” ties consisting of involvement in community, voluntary, and religious organizations. Participation in the last set of ties does not necessarily impose intense person-to-person interactions. Nonetheless, it provides a sense of belongingness and general social identity, which sociological theorists have argued as being relevant for the promotion of psychological well being.” (p. 463).

There are a limited number of places where young people can get together safely and enjoy activities and socialise. I therefore began thinking about a service along the lines of a youth club. I felt it should be somewhere that young adults from the community could attend but which would also be available to service users, along the lines of not being a mental health service per se but rather being “mental health friendly”.

It was felt important that the service be removed from the team base and away from a mental health hospital setting. There is still much stigma surrounding mental illness and it is unlikely that the wider community would be willing to attend services on site.

It is important to recognise that service users may easily feel that professionals are people who have great power over them and associate the team base or the hospital with having to “behave normally” in order to prevent admission or close scrutiny. There is also the tendency for professionals to become accustomed to the caring role and they may have trouble compartmentalising this within the new service. They may be tempted to use the extra time with service users to continue their regular work with them. It is anticipated that removing the project from the associated locations may help prevent both parties continuing their accustomed patterns.

A part of the proposed service is the inclusion of an executive board, made up of a combination of staff, service users and eventually users of the proposed service. It is envisioned that the service users will be supported to plan activities and take a hands on role in running aspects of the project, such as finance, advertising, hiring of the location etc. They are best placed to advise on the needs of the local community and to identify what steps should be taken to achieve success. There is also the added benefit of increased responsibility and activity on the part of the service user which can be very therapeutically important. This approach is already used in much of mental health services and can be easily built into this project. As Hall, Wren and Kirby (2008) said, “The voice of the service user will need to be at the centre of their own care, they will be seen as the expert on their experiences, deciding on the form of their care and support, whether it is social, medical, psychological and / or educational. The mental health professional’s role will shift from the traditional role of being the expert, to working alongside service users and carers as peers in supporting them to make these choices and decisions. This will give the service user hope and empowerment for their future.” (p.115).

Another aspect of this proposed service is the ability to adapt to both external and internal changes. Over time it may be possible that, for example, the service would change to become less focused on one particular community location. Rather than meeting once a week at the same time in the same place it is possible that specialised interest groups may be formed. A photographic group may take trips around London to photograph places of cultural or historical significance, a walking group may take ‘cheap day return’ trips to the coast or countryside, or a group with an interest in film may regularly meet to watch a film and then discuss it afterwards. I envisage these additional satellite communities would be facilitated by the service users themselves, perhaps with the assistance of a member of staff when required or requested.

I have made myself aware of groups which I may be able to work with to compliment the activities this project could provide. For example there is a group in the area which have a sound studio and forging links with this organisation may enable our users to access their equipment. Also, there is likely to be a cross over in terms of the users of the various services and we may be able to market our service within these groups. Finally, it may be useful to liaise with them in terms of sharing information, learning from their mistakes and getting tips on how to run the project successfully.

The first step in setting up the proposed service would be to contact Southwark Council. They would be able to advise on issues such as requirements for Public Liability Insurance, although after speaking briefly with them I understand that most venues would already have cover, which would apply to groups who rent the space. It would be necessary however to ensure that we made certain of this when securing a venue.

The service is designed to work with young people who are over the age of eighteen. It should therefore not be necessary to ensure that special Child Protection Procedures are in place, however Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults would apply and any members of staff are likely to require a Criminal Record Bureau clearance. Our staff already have Enhanced CRB clearances but it would likely be necessary to reapply with this project specifically in mind. If this were to be the case the CRB clearance should be applied for at least ten weeks before the proposed start of the project and I would be inclined to ask for a minimum commitment of six months from any staff involved.

With regard to funding, I will naturally attempt to gain funding from the NHS Foundation Trust at which I work but I will also be attempting to locate alternative ways of funding the project. For example, I intend to approach the National Lottery Community Fund and other community based projects. I do not anticipate difficulties with this aspect of the proposal as the initial and continuing costs are likely to be minimal.

In conclusion, I have designed a project which I believe would have make a positive contribution to the mental health and social functioning of both existing service users and people from the wider community.

I have not been able to identify many obstacles in successfully launching and maintaining this project. However it is important to bear in mind that the requirement of a CRB clearance application will require a small initial expense and will increase the lead time required.There is also the necessity of locating and renting a suitable venue and ensuring adherence to safeguarding policies and more general legal requirements. None of these issues are insurmountable and should not pose too onerous a burden upon volunteers.

There would be opportunities within a successful project to develop the service and expand beyond its original operational guidelines and the flexibility in this area is one of its core strengths. The proposed service is also designed to benefit the community, which is of particular importance given that it is based in one of the most socially deprived areas of the UK. Opportunities for socialisation in a safe and what might be termed ‘positive’ way are hard to find and over-subscribed in this area of London, and from my initial enquiries, both with proposed users of this service and with existing social groups, it seems likely that demand exists.

References

Rethink (3 June 2011). Recovery. [Online]. Available from: http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/recovery_and_self_management/recovery/ [Accessed 12 July 2010].

Hall, A. Wren, M. and Kirby, S. (2008) Care Planning in Mental Health, Promoting Recovery. Oxford: Blackwall Publishing Ltd.

Kawachi, I. and Berkman, L. (2001) Social Ties and Mental Health, Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 78 (3), p. 463

Kilbride, M. and Pitt, L. (2006) Researching recovery from psychosis, Mental Health Practice, 9 (7), pp. 20-23

Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Professional Conduct (2008) London: Nursing and Midwifery Council

Archives of General Psychiatry (March 2006). Heterogeneity in Incidence Rates of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Syndromes. [Online]. Available from: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/63/3/250 [Accessed 04 August 2010].