The Strong Vulnerable
Posted by Suzette
Mental Health and the Triangle of Care
Carers Trust (formerly The Princess Royal Trust for Carers) and the National Mental Health Development Unit today published a guide which emphasizes the need for better local strategic involvement of carers and families in the care planning and treatment of people with mental ill-health.
“The Triangle of Care - Carers Included: A Best Practice Guide in Acute Mental Health Care”, recommends better partnership working between service users and their carers, and organisations.
Care Services Minister Paul Burstow endorsed the guide, saying: “it shows how professionals, service users and carers can better work together to access the support needed.
“As a society we are becoming more aware that mental health issues touch all of us. One in four of us will experience some kind of mental illness in our lifetime but the wider role of family and friends in helping to care for those affected is still too easily over looked, especially when crisis situations arise.”
Welcoming the guide as an innovative step towards allowing staff in psychiatric wards and acute care settings to work better with service users and their carers, Carole Cochrane, the Chief Executive at The Trust pointed out that:
“There are currently 1.5m carers in the UK who look after someone with mental health problems, many of whom are also being treated in acute care settings. Sadly, too often we see that carers’ own expertise being ignored by professionals, or carers being left unsupported in their caring role.
“In these uncertain economic times, staff must recognise the values of working in partnership with carers.”
The ‘Triangle of Care’ approach was developed by carers and staff to improve carer engagement in acute inpatient and home treatment services. The guide outlines key elements to achieving this as well as examples of good practice.
Read more about the 'Triangle of Care' and download the Best Practices Guide
Hear what people have to say about Triangle of Care: Watch this video from an event organized by CWP in partnership with Carers Trust (formerly The Princess Royal Trust) aimed at strengthening and building partnerships with carers and families. To watch a film about the event, please see below.
Comments
I would welcome any ideas
I would welcome any ideas about helping my son to cope with the medical side of treatment, sharing of experiences, and knowledge of how to get support from other carers of family members with a mental health condition. I am thinking of writing up my own experiences of helping my son. This will include the effects on me and my family and what it takes to continue to support him.
Hello Margaret Thank you for
Hello Margaret
Thank you for your enquiry.
I am the Policy and Development Manager at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers leading on mental health.
You don't state where you live, but firstly I would recommend checking on our page on carers' centres and contacting your local centre. They will be able to provide you with support as a carer and a number of centres have specialised mental health carer support projects. If they do not have they will be able to signpost you to services nearby. These projects can help you support your son, but also link you with other carers in similar situations.
In relation to information on best supporting your son and for a vast range of other information I would recommend the Royal College of Psychiatrists website and the Partners in Care information (which was a join project between us and the royal college):
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo.aspx
I would also signpost you to www.mind.org.uk and www.rethink.org.uk both of which have a wealth of information.
I hope this information proves useful for you.
I too would welcome some help
I too would welcome some help with my own issues which have arisen through caring for my son. He has mental health issues as yet undiagnosed specifically, I never know whether I am doing the right thing or saying the right thing and I know I often escalate the problem by what I say. It is seriously affecting my marriage and I feel like in order to support one I have to forego the other. I notice it is a while since you posted and that worries me because to date I have not found any help out there and wonder if you did.
Hi Liz Thank you for your
Hi Liz
Thank you for your query. I am the Policy and Development Manager for Mental Health at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers.
I would recommend much of the guidance I have offered the other enquirers on this page. However I would also suggest a couple of areas in addition to this.
You say you are not sure if you are doing or saying the right thing, one of the crucial things is to be supportive and encouraging to your son. Avoid raised voices and arguments. You may want to seek counselling for yourself which can allow you to talk through the vast range of emotions that you experience during this challenging times.
A number of mental health trusts or local mental health organisations offer "family therapy" or "family interventions" this isn't as daunting as it sounds but allows you to come together as a family and explore how to move on together addressing issues you may all be experiencing.
A support group is also very good to provide an opportunity to talk through issues.
As recommened before try your local carers centre, Rethink or Mind.
I hope this helps.
Ruth
I would welcome any help on
I would welcome any help on what help that i can give my daughter who may have bipolar. my family want to help and we need to understant what the symptoms are and how to deal with any situation, what help and support we can give her. What governing bodies do we approach for support?
Hello I am the Policy and
Hello
I am the Policy and Development Manager leading on mental health for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers.
Thank you for your enquiry.
I would recommend contacting your local carers' centre - the details can be found on our web page. The centre will be able to provide you with information on your rights as carers, services in your local area and also support that is available to your daughter.
I would also recommend the following which are filled with information on mental health conditions and related issues.
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo.aspx
www.mind.org.uk
www.rethink.org.uk
I hope these prove useful.
Hello Firstly, thank you for
Hello
Firstly, thank you for your enquiry. I am the Policy and Development Manager responsible for Mental Health at The Trust.
It is common for many carers to want to help the person they care for and not be sure where to turn to.
Firstly, I would recommend contacting your local carers centre, you don't say where you live so if you look on our map you will be able to find your nearest:
http://www.carers.org/carers-centres/find-your-local-centre
Carers' Centre will be able to offer you information, advice and support and a number offer specialised mental health services.
If you look at the information on our pages about mental health which links to the Royal College of Psychiatry Partners in Care project which has a huge amount of information about mental health conditions, the mental health system and how to support yourself and the person you care for.
Also, if you read our Triangle of Care guide, this is what should be reasonable for you to expect from your mental health trust.
I would also recommend visting our Carers' Chat pages where you can speak to other carers about your experiences. This is a great way to get peer support.
I hope this helps.
Best regards
Ruth
I would like to know if there
I would like to know if there are any support groups for families in West Yorkshire dealing with a father who has schizophrenia.
I am currently living in Australia and I have 3 brothers in the UK who are trying to deal with my father. He was having severe paranoid episodes about 5 years ago and we managed to get him to a psychiatrist who put him on medication which totally zonked him. He stopped having the paranoid episodes, but slept alot and put weight on and hardly left the house and was drinking heavily. He decided to stop taking the medication about 8 months ago and is now showing other signs of schizophrenia, being extremely erratic, hardly sleeping, spending money on useless items and hoarding things. We also think he is having paranoid thoughts but won't tell us about them anymore. He has always refused to admit that he has schizophrenia and still insists that the paranoid thoughts were all real. He just tells the doctor what he thinks the doctor wants to hear, and won't admit to anything. Theres alot more to it, that I won't go into now. I would very much appreciate it if you could point us in the right direction so we can get some support as the doctors are not worried because he is not a danger to himself or anyone else.
many thanks in advance
Hello Claire Thank you for
Hello Claire
Thank you for your enquiry. As you don't specify in West Yorkshire where your father and brothers live I can't provide specific guidance on support groups. However, I recommend checking which carers centre is closest to your brothers. Your local carers centre can provide practical advice and support as well as advocacy for your brothers. They will have local support groups in addition to this and be able to link your brothers to other specific mental health services that are in their area.
http://www.carers.org/carers-centres/find-your-local-centre
If you go to the above page and enter your brothers' location it will let you know the nearest centre.
I think one of the crucial issues here is that the health professionals are not hearing the whole story of your father's ill health. I would advise that your brother's request a meeting with your father's care manager, psychiatrist or GP to explain the situation more fully. They ahve the right to do this as confidentiality doesn not prevent health professionals listening to what carers have to say.
I would also recommend the Partners in Care information on the Royal College of Psychiatry's webpage (as mentioned in another post) as well as the Rethink Mental Illness page.
I hope this helps.
Ruth
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