you We really do need to be more creative about how we approach involving service users we need to go to their table on a basis upon

Transcription

1 Engagement with Service Users: Empowerment through Creativity: Paul Rees reports on his own novel, practical and very successful means of engaging with hard to reach service users so that their voices are heard loud and clear We really do need to be more creative about how we approach involving service users we need to go to their table on a basis upon which they not only feel confident about being involved but also enjoy the involvement they have. All too often we are challenged by the notion of service user involvement and the need to assist users of services so that their voices can be heard. Equally often we are told by people who commission, fund or manage services that we should consult with service users over the development of a policy or procedure, a change in management arrangements or representation on decision-making bodies. All of those things may work for some people some of the time but it also smacks of the notion that they should come to our table if they want to be involved or consulted. Frankly, if I were a user of services and was asked if I wanted to assist in the development or review of, say, a health and safety policy or some similar operational matter I might be tempted to think that s what you get paid for. We really do need to be more creative about how we approach involving service users we need to go to their table on a basis at which they not only feel confident about being involved but also enjoy the involvement they have. I was commissioned by the Manor Hotel Walsall, a service which accommodates and supports substance dependent women who, in many cases, are exiting sex work and crime. My role was to support a vulnerable client group to think creatively and to

2 challenge their concept of why they are involved in substance abuse, crime and vice. being natural science and social history based themes, it evoked a positive response. We shared our poetry and art and I encouraged the group to explore their feeling and emotions through creative art. It proved to have quite a cathartic experience, and supported the theory of cognitive behavioural therapy via a novel approach. Paul Rees 2007: Help!! I had been involved in producing some professional audio visual (AV) presentations as a member of the International Institute of Amateur Cinematography, (IAC) and presented some of my work to the residents to help open up dialogue within the group and despite the subject and content of those AV s Support Solutions were involved in producing a Business Plan for The Manor Hotel and imagery was discussed to enhance the concept of what The Manor Hotel provided as a therapeutic and supportive model. I offered to explore the possibility of creating an audio visual package involving the support staff and residents. I had set myself quite a challenge as The Manor Hotel catered for homeless women (or girls as they clearly stated they wished to be referred to) who had been subjected to years of physical and emotional abuse and in many instances they had been taking illicit drugs, using vice and crime to pay for their addiction. Many of the girls had served numerous prison sentences and The Manor Hotel was considered by them the Last Chance Saloon. Most of the girls had been involved in vice and Class A Drugs for many years and had theoretically bypassed their teenage years, waking up to a latent adolescence. Hence the creative arts therapy has

3 allowed a period avoiding direct conflict and provides a sense of self-healing. Paul Rees 2007: Crack House In discussion with the Director of the Manor Hotel, I set about designing and programming an AV presentation that included photographic images. With unanimous consent, I worked alongside Jules McCarthy BBC News Reporter, and photographed on location. Suffice it to say this was a memorable experience as we explored former drug dens and crack houses where most of the former addicts frequented to take heroin and crack cocaine. It was quite a harrowing experience but objectively it produced enough footage and material to produce two separate Av s including script, narration, graphic images and music score. The residents were kept on board all of the time and they were empowered to contribute their comments, taking out images that offended or identified them. Most of the residents were more than prepared to be identified in the AV, but at all times they were consulted and were eager to project positive images of their progress and in many cases felt that the experience of looking back at their lives on the streets, living and sleeping in phone booths and watching other women being raped in the Crack Dens whilst they were forced to look on whilst being plied with drugs by pimps and dealers, was an important part of the healing process. I was always aware of the emotional impact upon the girls as they like to be referred to, and frequently discussed this with the support staff and the residents. Despite my professional background, I was still shocked and horrified by many of the stories told to

4 me by the girls, but I guess my background helped me to empathise and engage with this client group sensitively. Paul Rees 2007: Methadone & Needles I am a professionally Qualified Social Worker who has thirty years combined experience of working in social work specialisms such as Guardian Ad Litem, Approved Social Worker under the Mental Health Act; Child Protection, and Probation Work. I moved to the National Probation Service in 1985, transferring my group work and client centred skills working on a number of projects that in some instances had involved vulnerable woman who had been subjected to abuse. As a Probation Officer and case manager, I wrote thousands of risk assessment reports and was also a pro-active member of the West Midlands Race Forum. The highlight of my career was being asked to present a Community Offending Rehabilitation Project to The Queen in I retired in 2003 and began painting and writing. I have several published books on poetry and my art and photography has been exhibited at Lichfield Cathedral College Hall and Walsall Library Galleries. I am currently being proposed as Sandwell s Poet Laureate. Why did I do this for the Manor Hotel? The Manor Hotel is a phenomenally successful service. How many other substance misuse services can claim a success rate of 75%? Yet it was under threat from bureaucrats who had withdrawn their funding. I have always been up for a challenge and I have known the proprietors of the Manor Hotel from years past, and understand the need for this type of facility, especially as the problems of drug abuse, crime and vice, nationally is at epidemic proportions. The Manor Hotel Model is unique and needs to be harnessed, not threatened

5 with closure. So that is my simple explanation for my voluntary involvement. However, it is evident that the success of this pilot project has opened up vast possibilities and I am confident that organisations throughout the UK would benefit from this dynamic format. Part of my reason for writing this is therefore to make other projects which deal with hard to reach groups aware of my existence and what I can do through working with the service users they support. A Film Production Crew from Central Television who happened to view my AV said they were blown away by the production and content value said, after my appearances on his show, where I narrated my published poetry and prose Paul is a passionate writer and is knowledgeable about his subject. That was an accolade that gave me the impetus to go forward and explore alternative methods of engaging with groups and organisations. I would love to hear your comments and I m available to work with you. Paul Rees Audio Visual Producer, phone: , paulrees8@aaol.com Jules McCarthy, News Reporter BBC West Midlands said You re a Star and you have managed to capture the mood and atmosphere of the plight of these vulnerable women and the positive work that the Manor Hotel provides. As a direct result of my contribution I was invited as a guest speaker on the BBC Radio WM to provide an analysis on the evolving drug culture in Walsall. Professor Carl Chinn, PhD, MA, OBE, Social Historian, of the University of Birmingham and BBC Broadcaster