Welcome to the latest newsletter provided by the Service for High Risk Eating Disorders (SHED)

Transcription

1 SHED News Winter 2014/15 Photographic artwork contributed by one of SHED s service users. Welcome to the latest newsletter provided by the Service for High Risk Eating Disorders (SHED) SHED provides a specialist service to adults aged 18 and over who are experiencing an eating disorder and other significant related problems. Covering Cardiff & Vale and Cwm Taf health boards, SHED offers a range of services, including psychological therapies, nutritional advice from a State Registered Dietitian (SRD), support from an occupational therapist, information and contemplation work, and information and support for families and carers.

2 Who s who? Meet the team! Eating problems and their related difficulties are complex. Each of our service users face their own set of challenges, requiring a supportive approach that is based on these unique needs. As such, SHED comprises a multi-disciplinary team which draws on a breadth of professional skills and expertise in order to provide the most effective interventions possible. Menna Jones - Clinical Lead Isabella Jurewicz - Consultant Psychiatrist Clare O Reilly - Specialist Clinician Carol Ledwards - Dietitian Rachel Morgan - Occupational Therapist Charlotte Higgins - Support worker Fran Field - Administrator For details of how to contact the SHED team, please see the back page

3 New Additions to the Team Fran and Maia introduce themselves... My name is Frances Field and I joined the Service for High Risk Eating Disorders in June 2014 as the Team Administrator. I love making cards, cross-stitch and using computers. I also enjoy the company of my two cats and also (almost forgot!) the old man. I enjoy the role as it is varied and interesting. I don t know what I will be doing day by day. My colleagues have made me very welcome and the atmosphere in the office is great, in fact this is the best job I think I have ever had which is saying something as I have worked for over 40 years (not telling you my age though!). I enjoy talking to clients and staff and feel with this role I am in some small way helping people. My name is Maia Thornton and I am a third year Psychology student from Cardiff University. I will be working with the SHED team until July Although I have only been here for a short time I have already had so many fantastic opportunities and had the pleasure of meeting many lovely people. During my time working with SHED my role will be to work alongside my colleagues to aid them in supporting service users in any way I can. In addition I also help out around the office, collating data, organising the newsletter and ensuring all our records are kept up to date. I am thoroughly looking forward to the rest of my time working with the excellent team at SHED and thank you to everyone I ve worked with for giving me such a warm welcome.

4 SHED at the International Eating Disorders Conference 2015 Over the past few years, members of the SHED team have been making the journey to London every March to attend the Eating Disorders International Conferences to listen to world-leading experts in the field of eating disorders and learn from their wisdom and experiences. In 2015, SHED will be presenting some of our work at the International Eating Disorders Conference for the first time. There will be 2 workshops presented by SHED staff during the course of the 3-day event, which attracts academics and clinicians from all over the world. Our workshops will focus on providing intensive home support for people in the period after discharge from hospital, and writing assessment feedback letters to clients during our initial contact with clients.

5 Research Update The collaboration between SHED and the Psychology department at University of South Wales continues with plans for further research to be undertaken with our staff, clients and their families. The projects that were undertaken last academic year by the Masters course students into aspects of families experiences and the support they receive have been submitted to the university, and we wish the students well with their evaluations! We look forward to carrying on to work with them to see their findings in print for others to learn from their work also. This year, the SHED team will be collaborating with a new group of students from the Psychology department, some of whom will continue to look further at the work that the SHED team does with families, and others will be helping us look at other aspects of the therapies we provide for clients. More details will be provided as our ideas develop!

6 SHED s NEW Craft Library! SHED has been given a supply of lovely, but unwanted craft materials. We would like to make these available to the service users we are working with so we have organised our craft items into a library of resources that individuals can access, take home and enjoy. We hope this will provide an opportunity for people to explore their creativity and experiment with useful distraction techniques. There will be no charge made for items but you may need to purchase extra bits and pieces to complete your project. If you are interested in accessing our craft library please ring Fran on to arrange a time to come up to the SHED office. She will then show you what we have available and help you to choose the items you need. Also, if you have any unwanted craft or hobbying items we will happily accept them to keep our supply varied and interesting. Rachel Morgan SHED Occupational Therapist

7 EATING DISORDERS CROSS- PARTY GROUP RELAUNCHES! The Eating Disorders Cross-Party Group (EDCPG) within the Welsh Government has been re-launched under the leadership of Bethan Jenkins AM. The focus of the group remains strongly committed to increasing the profile of the needs of people with eating disorders within the Welsh Government and its planning. Now, some aspects of how the meetings are run have been changed in order to make it easier for service users, families, professionals working in the field, and Assembly Members to attend. The task of organising the meetings has also been taken on by Beat Cymru/Gofal. At the meeting on November 19 th, there was discussion about how people with eating disorders are supported in primary care services and what their needs are in inpatient services. If you would like to be included in the circulation of information about future meetings, then please Michelle Bushell from Beat Cymru/Gofal at

8 A Mobile Companion SHED placement student Maia writes about an innovative new mobile app available to help people with managing stress and anxiety Companion is a clever app that enables the user to take any negative thought they might be having and reframe them into positive thoughts. It is particularly useful as it is portable on a mobile so these useful prompts can be to hand at any time. Here is a little more information about it. Companion is an App that is available on the Apple App store. It has many useful features and utilizes the ideas used in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The most useful part of the app is the function that allows people to Reframe a thought. This function takes the user through a step by step process of saying what the negative thought is, its triggers and the level of anxiety they feel in response to that thought. The app then goes on to ask them to think of a more rational, positive thought to replace the original anxiety provoking thought. What I feel is the most beneficial part of the process is that at the end of the process, the user is given the option to turn the new positive thought that they have come up with into a visual aid that the app calls cards. The cards include the positive thought condensed into a short sentence or phrase with a picture in the background. This picture can be taken from the collection of photographs already stored in the app which includes relaxing images of nature for example, or you are given the option to add a photo from your own photo library.

9 Above: An example of a picture card, which can be customised by the app-user By adding your own picture to the Card, it makes it very personal and this picture may represent something that is a motivating or protective thought for you. The finished card is then saved in the photo library, to be used as a screen saver or a quick reminder. I believe the companion app may be a very valuable tool for an individual who is experiencing negative thoughts and wants to change those thought patterns. The app is ideal as the materials created with it are very mobile, as you can just take your phone out anywhere and have it to hand. In addition, the app has relaxation and distraction exercises to allow the user either to relax when feeling anxious or upset or act as an aid to divert attention from unwanted negative thinking. The app does cost 1.99, although I am reliably told that it is worth it! Find out more about Companion including how to download the app at

10 "My Experience of the Royal College of Nursing Clinical Leadership Programme" by Clare O'Reilly, Specialist Clinician/ Occupational Therapist, SHED team From March 2013 to March 2014 I was fortunate enough to participate in the Royal College of Nursing Clinical Leadership Programme. Although originally established for nurses, this course is now open to a wide variety of professionals. Engaging in the programme was an amazing opportunity and had very many highlights. These included going to the Senedd to observe a committee meeting, attending Welsh Government to participate in a meeting of 'Directors of Therapy and Health Sciences', speaking at the Health Board's Health and Wellbeing Steering Group and having coffee bought for me by the CEO, Adam Cairns! Above all, it was a great privilege to complete a 'patient story' exercise, where clients of the service were selected at random to be interviewed about their treatment with the SHED team. Listening to the recordings was very humbling and indeed emotional at times. It was thoroughly beneficial to listen to individuals' experience from their perspective to begin to develop an understanding of how they view the service and their interactions with us. I realised the very important role we play in clients' lives and how honoured we are to share such challenging times with them. It was also uplifting to hear the progress individuals have made through our work together. Completing the exercise has enabled me to be more empathic and to think more carefully about how I work with individuals. The course culminated in a celebration ceremony that was held on 7th November. At that event I shared my experience and learning on the course. I also provided feedback about a team 'Service Improvement Project' that I was engaged in which focused on supporting Health Board staff to take a break in their working day. Through the course I have learned to be more courageous in my leadership. I have implemented my skills in my daily work in SHED. I also hope to continue to further the service improvement project. I look forward to continue putting my leadership skills to use and am excited about the challenges ahead!

11 Men Get Eating disorders too! In March 2014, Carol Ledwards and Rachel Morgan, were lucky enough to attend the Eating Disorders international conference. One particularly interesting topic that Carol fed back to the team on was a talk given by Men Get Eating Disorders Too (MGEDT). MGEDT is an award winning national charity that works to raise awareness of eating disorders in men so they can seek help when they feel they need it. Eating disorders may often be thought of as a condition that only affects women but MGEDT is working hard to educate people that this is not the case. The charity has a wealth of online resources such as information sheets, personal stories and a forum and live chat facility. In addition, MGEDT run training workshops which are open to a wide range of professions and are aimed at informing individuals who attend about issues specific to men with eating disorders. This is essential work as research suggests that an increased knowledge of eating disorders in men would allow professionals to detect and diagnose it quicker and more easily, as well as decrease men s fear of a negative response potentially enabling them to seek help earlier. For further information, MGEDT s website is listed below as well as their social media links. If you are interested in the MGEDT training workshops, two upcoming dates are the 6 th of February (Glasgow) and the 20 th of February (London), full details of these events are included on their website. /MGEDT

12 SHED Focuses on Student Outreach Harry Thomas, Applied Psychology undergraduate student at the University of South Wales & President of their Psychology Society, writes about working with SHED in a new project to improve awareness of eating disorders amongst students. According to Beat (the charity that supports individuals with eating disorders), an estimated 1.6 million people in the UK are effected by an eating disorder. With such high numbers reported it is important for people to know about the services which can offer them support. With the help of Dr Menna Jones of SHED and the University of South Wales Psychology Society, we have been able to raise awareness of eating disorders and the support available for amongst our student population. In the build-up to World Mental Health Day on October 10th, a talk was held at the Psychology Society with Dr Menna Jones and SHED service user James Downs as guest speakers. The talk enabled people to become more educated about eating disorders, including learning about the possible signs someone may be having eating difficulties, the help and support for individuals with an eating disorder and for family and friends of suffers.

13 On World Mental Health Day itself, the Psychology Society distributed flyers around the University of South Wales Treforest campus with the support of Dr Menna Jones & Maia Thornton (a psychology student from Cardiff University currently on placement with SHED). Another statistic by beat was that 69% of students with an eating disorder in the UK had difficulties accessing treatment (according to statistics from beat). It is therefore vital for people to know what services and support is available to them. One aim of the flyers was to raise awareness of these services among university students. With Eating Disorder Awareness Week beginning 23 February 2015, and in light of the success of the events on World Mental Health Day, the Psychology Society is currently arranging some events to raise awareness throughout this week. I have found it both a privilege and a pleasure to be engaged in student outreach work with SHED staff and service users, and I look forward to working with them again in the future! Harry Thomas and SHED staff give our leaflets on World Mental Health Day in University of South Wales Trefforest Campus

14 Beat Cymru self-help groups Beat has a network of self help and support groups across the UK including a number in Wales. Groups provide an opportunity for anyone with eating distress in various stages of their illness and recovery, or carers, families and friends, to meet people who may be in a similar situation. People support each other by sharing experiences, thoughts, successes and problems or by simply listening. Each group is facilitated by at least two Beat registered Group Facilitators. You do not need to be referred to our groups and there is no pre-registration process, you just come along or get in touch beforehand. They are free to attend and are for adults over 18 years old. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer group facilitator, please contact your local project officer. Beat s online helpfinder has a directory where you can search for support groups and other services in your area. Beat launches new Online Support Groups! New Online Support Groups are being launched to provide an opportunity for anyone with eating distress in various stages of their illness and recovery, or carers, families and friends, to meet people who may be in a similar situation. People will support each other by sharing experiences, thoughts, successes and problems. Each group is facilitated by a Beat registered Group Facilitator and moderated by Beat Staff. The Online Support Groups in Wales will be running twice a month which will consist of 1 evening group and an 1 afternoon group during the month. If you would like any further information about Beat s work and services you can contact Michelle Bushell, their Wales Project Development Officer via m.bushell@b-eat.co.uk or

15 We are conscious that some of our service users may have difficulty finding affordable food. SHED became aware of an excellent organisation, known as Food Cardiff. Food Cardiff works to resolve food inequality and promote sustainable eating. We contacted Food Cardiff and had a chat about the services they provide and here is some information about them: Food Cardiff is an organisation that promotes the importance of food that is produced in a way that fosters respect for people, animals and the natural environment. It also works hard to reduce food inequality by increasing the availability and affordability of food and improving nutritional education. This organisation provides information about and encourages people to use resources such as food co-ops, food growing projects, food banks, allotments and many more, as a way to access affordable food as well as improve food education. In addition, Food Cardiff is eager to raise awareness of establishments and businesses that sell food grown fairly with the values in mind that Food Cardiff promotes. Their website (listed below) is an excellent source of information on all the organisations that Food Cardiff has links with, as well as a wealth of resources regarding a wide range of projects and schemes designed to suit a range of individuals and interests. Food Cardiff s ambition is to work collaboratively as a community to make Cardiff a city where affordable and sustainable food is readily available for all. If you are interested in learning more about this organisation or have any questions, Food Cardiff s contact details are listed on their website. All of their social media links are also listed below. Facebook: faceboook.com/foodcardiff

16 Upcoming events: Eating Disorders Awareness Week is from 23rd February - 1st March Many national charities will be holding events and campaigns throughout the week The Cross-Party Group for Eating Disorders in the Welsh Assembly meets for the first time in 2015 on Tuesday 24th February, 12:30-1:15pm. Contact m.bushell@beat.co.uk for more details about the meeting and how to attend. Contact Us! The clinical base for the SHED team is: Ward East 3A, Whitchurch Hospital, Park Road, Whitchurch, CARDIFF. CF14 7XB Tel: Fax: