Although I run many carer groups focused on those caring for someone with a mental illness. I also facilitate the London Cancer carer forum. The group is based online to allow caregivers a chance to network, share ideas and be informed.
The are several reasons for such a group. The first is a platform to be heard or at least to reduce isolation.
It is not easy when you find out that someone close to you have developed cancer. There is shock, disbelief and confusion. How could this happen? Why them? Why me? Why now?
You are not sure where to turn, but for sure you will certainly listen to the health professionals. You will also do your best to be there for then person diagnoised with cancer. Still in the back of your mind, you might feel powerless. You are almost dependant on how hard the person you care for will fight.
So in the end you must remain confident, but the waves of emotions can keep flooding back. It is as if your life is put on hold because you are unsure about the future. Yet, you will try your best to plan as it is perhaps the best way forward. You do your best to listen to the fears your loved one might express, you will try and be there for them.
Still, deep down you dare not express your fears, concerns or worries to the person you care for. So who do you express them to? Who could understand? Would the health professional have the time to listen to you? How about counselling? There is excellent counselling out there, but it is not forever and you need to belong somewhere quickly. Even if it is just for a moment.
For carers who feel vulnerable there should be a platform where they can feel connected and to express their experience. There should be a place to learn from others and feel less isolated. As carers there should be a chance to try to share our journey because caring for someone can be a maze of complications and difficult emotions.
Since Carers Week 2024 takes place from Monday 10th June until Sunday 16th June 2024, The London cancer carer forum will focus on what support carers should seek for 26th of June – 5 pm till 6 pm.
Welcome back to another update of carer engagement at Cygnet’s Carers, Families and Friends network event.
As one of the carer ambassadors for cygnet, I find these events an excellent way of engaging and networking with staff and carers whose loved ones use the services of Cygnet. There is always a great line up of speakers and I enjoy hearing questions and experiences of staff and carers.
We have done many carer network events so far and it was time to visit Cygnet Kewstoke based over at Weston-Super-Mare.
The journey was pleasant getting to the Premier Inn hotel where staff were friendly and the room was super relaxing were I felt prepared for the next day. Julian another carer ambassador along with myself went exploring the area for a while to see what the community is like.
Apart from the rain, I certainly enjoyed walking around to explore. It was not long until we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the big event tomorrow.
It was not long before we headed to Kewstoke which sits on a massive site. The area is far from the noise of city where you are surrounded by peace and nature. You can see how massive the site is by the picture I took from the car.
Once inside the hospital, we noticed the staff eagerly waiting to see how the event would progress. I was glad to see a good turnout including carers.
The event was opened by David Wilmott who is cygnet’s Director of Nursing. He has a passion to include families and carers as we heard from David why such events are so important. Cygnet was working hard on the triangle of care and want their hospitals and sites to make a difference for families and carers. Its about following the guidelines of the triangle of care and applying it to Cygnet services.
Next to speak was Laura Sheridan who is the group service improvement manager she has done amazing work bringing carer ambassadors together and she has an excellent focus on connecting to the community. Its not only about families and carers, its all about community in the end. We want better health and mental wellbeing for the community, but we have to listen and in order to listen we need to connect.
Laura spoke about more initiatives that Cygnet was working hard to archieve. We then heard from Josh who is the hospital manager for cygnet kewstoke.
As the first speaker I spoke about the importance of carer empowerment. Health services cannot always lay down rules and policies. Families and carers must be empowered to give views, ideas and opinions, but before that they must be empowered to do so. I have always thought the those who connect to others tend to cope better as carers. Carer empowerment is not an easy task, in fact carer networking is a lot easier to focus on, but if a carer chooses they can learn from each other, form groups and work along with health care services.
One form of carer empowerment is through creativity. I use poems to connect to carers and sometimes professionals. You dont have to read a whole book to understand the mental health carer’s experience. A good poem can lead to solidarity where there should be a common interest, a common experience and a a place where we belong and feel invited.
Speaking about my journey as carer ambassador I felt supported as staff and carer engaged and feedback to questions I raised at the event. I ended my talk with a poem aimed at carers, which is quite a dark be realistic poem on the need to care for someone with mental ill health. The poem is not meant to frighten carers, but does appeal to urgency regarding the task a carer will have to take up.
Still there is hope, that hope is down to how professionals engage with the carer. The hope is making sure the carer understands what services are provided, but also the carer needs to be empowered.
YOU BETTER LEARN
You better learn There is not much time You just don’t want to be left behind
You better learn Just do it fast Provide that care and better do it fast
You better learn When they fall sick The pain of failure will hit you like a brick
You better learn About the system It might not work, so develop all that wisdom
You better learn Just look around Prepare to complain and refuse to back down
You better learn Beware of the cost The person you care for life could be at loss
You better learn Just don’t sit there I am warning you and trying to be clear
You better learn Just learn from me Unpaid carers can so suffer easily
You better learn Take up the fight A little learning can help with foresight
You better learn Just better learn Just keeping on learning Learning and Learning
Dr Sharon Collins and Josh Jones presents
We then had a focus on Psychology and Occupational therapy. This was presented by Dr Sharon Collins who is Head of Psychology and also Josh Jones who is Head of Occupational therapy. Both presenters are regional leads.
The presentation outline was on what are these two fields and how can they assist the patient and family. Dr Sharon mentioned that psychologists are actively involved in studying and understanding mental processes, brain functions and behaviour. Psychology is not Psychiatry, which is a branch of medicine.
Dr Sharon spoke about the role psychologists play and what they offer which is listed below.
Aimed at Service users/patients Assessments Psychometrics Individual therapy Group Therapy
Aimed at Staff Reflective Practice Additional support Supervision
Dr Sharon also spoke about the types of therapies
CBT – Cognitive behaviour therapy DBT – dialectical behavioural therapy EMDR – Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing Psychodynamic CFT – Compassion focussed therapy MBT – Mentalisation based therapy BFT – behavioural family therapy
There was lots for families and carers to learn about the mental health profession. We then had a talk from Josh Jones on occupational therapy. Josh explained and example of Occupational therapy in that it is not just about doing things, it is enabling the person to be themselves and find meanding and purpose in life.
We were presented with the toolkits of Occupational therapy on individual therapy techniques
Lesley Mellor the next carer amabassador presented
There are four carer ambassadors at Cygnet who are all very talented with their lived experience backgrounds. Lesley Mellor was next to present on her journey as a carer. Lesley is the founder and chair of the Dorset Parent Council. This is a charity aimed at parent carers of young people with special educational needs.
Lesley understand a common experience of carers, this is down to trying to understanding about the conditions of their loved ones. She understands carers can feel isolated with the cared for’s condition. With Carers Week 2024 fast approaching Lesley will be launching the Cygnet Carers Peer group and Cygnet staff carer network. We then had more updates from Laura on cygnet services for carers.
We then had a lunch break and a chance to network with carers and cygnet staff before we heard from Kate Mercer who provides advocacy for carers at cygnet. Kate Mercer ran an interactive discussion session on the importance of human rights and why it is so important to offer carers the choice of advocacy
The last to present was the third Cygnet carer amabassador Julian Dr Takats. Julian spoke about the importance of the carer network, his journey as a carer and an explanation of what Carer Ambassadors do in their role.
All in all I enjoyed being part of the event. I will never forget how I felt welcomed by the staff at Cygnet, there is much work to do and even more to understand. We need ideas, views and opinions from families and carers whose loved ones use Cygnet services. I want carers to feel empowered and more.
It is mental health awareness week 2024. The theme for this year is “Movement: moving for our mental health.”.
The charity Mental Health Foundation has been running Mental Health Awareness Week for 20 years and it continues to grow stronger in raising awareness.
Please watch my video on the importance of Mental Health Awareness week.
To help promote and celebrate mental health awareness week 2024
1. Sign-up for an active challenge event! 2. Wear a green ribbon to show everyone that you care about mental health. 3. Learn about mental health by attend events online or locally.
Mental Health is every ones business and we must recognise and support our own mental wellbeing
Welcome back to the third in the series of carer activist interviews by Matthew McKenzie. These videos help not only bring awareness to what unpaid carers can do when helping others, but can also allow carers to learn about carer empowerment.
For this interview I spoke to Jaycee La Bouch fellow supporter of Carers UK and founder of Zen Laughter yoga therapy. Jaycee is not only a carer, but also finds ways to support other carers through the power of mental wellbeing. Every time I meet Jaycee, she always has a smile on her face.
Unpaid carers can go through many challenges that it can be so easy for them to neglect their own mental health and wellbeing. Watch the video of the challenges Jaycee went through and how she found the power to help others.
Did you know that national hoarding awareness week is fast approaching? The awareness week starts on Monday 13th of May, which is the same day mental health awareness week starts.
The awareness week started in 2014 and has grown each year. So the theme for this year is called “Then and Now”, which is centred around looking back at how much has changed throughout the last decade
Hoarding is a recognised mental health diagnosis. It is the excessive collection and retention of any material to the point that living space is sufficiently cluttered to preclude activities for what they are designed for.
Those who care for someone hoarding often go through forms of mental health stigma, which can often set difficult challenges in their relationship with the person hoarding.
Hoarding disorders are challenging to treat because many people who hoard frequently do not see it as a problem, or have little awareness of how it’s affecting their life or the lives of others. This can lead to families and friends struggling to maintain a relationship with the person who has the disorder.
There is much needed awareness for hoarding, so it is just by chance that a Leicester Animation Studio has launched Campaign for Animated Short Film Shedding Light on Hoarding Disorder.
Supported by the British Film Institute (BFI) NETWORK, the film will visually explore real human emotions within the context of Hoarding Disorder focusing on the relationship between a mother and her daughter.
Though the BFI NETWORK supported by the National Lottery is behind the project, Kino Bino are seeking pledges to complete the production. Their crowdfunding campaign is backed by national hoarding organisations such as Hoarding Disorder UK, Clouds End, and Hoarding Support, with Leicestershire Fire Service, academic experts, and organisations like the British Psychological Society, Age UK, and the APDO rallying behind this worthwhile film.
Welcome to an update of the Cygnet Annual Nursing Conference and awards ceremony that took place over at the National Conference Centre.
Just to let you know the perspective of the Nursing conference is from a carer’s perspective. I will not always repeat what took place, but might review its importance or my understanding of the event.
The Cygnet Nursing Conference took place on the 9th of May 2024 from 10:00 am till 4:30 pm, so the event was packed with updates, keynote speakers, Breakout Sessions and Awards along with certificate graduations.
You can also watch the video promotion of the event below.
I would just like to mention that in my carer engagement role, I have never been to a nursing conference before, so I was not sure what to expect. I was worried a lot of things would go over my head or there would be too much Jargon. This is important if involved patient and carers from expert by experience are attending professional events.
The evening before carer ambassadors and expert by experience were treated to a lovely meal at the Premier Inn hotel over in Birmingham.
I had not seen a few Cygnet carer ambassadors for a while, so it was great to connect and hear updates. With support from Cygnet Carer lead Laura Sheridan I was made to feel welcome. In fact we all were welcomed by David Wilmott who is Cygnet’s Director of Nursing. David has a strong nursing background and has a focus and passion for making nursing a special career for Cygnet staff.
I have to admit I did not pay too much attention to the Conference agenda beforehand, but to my surprise, it turned out some of the Keynote speakers were at premier inn meal. I had a chat with Stephen Jones who is the Head of nursing practice for mental health at the Royal College of Nursing. Did you know I am involved in a few RCN projects?
I also had a chat to Jane Murkin who is the Deputy Director of Safety and Improvement at NHS England.
It was great to see two professionals passionate about the nursing profession and I was interested to hear what they were going to say.
On the day of the conference the weather was pleasant and so was the atmosphere of the conference. Everyone was friendly and welcoming as they looked forward to the agenda. It was not long before we had welcome and introductions from David Wilmott who thanked those in attendance and mentioned how important it is to congratulate each other. David mentioned that it takes a lot to not only help others who are vulnerable, but also to help each other and ourselves.
We then had a welcome from Dr Tony Romero who is the CEO of Cygnet. Tony showed his support for those in attendance as he prepared staff for a special day.
Next to present from a video message was Prof Deborah Sturdy who is the Chief Nurse for Adult Social care at the Department of Health and Social Care. She also thanked those in attendance, but made note that we must join networks with people and their communities.
Stephen Jones presents
It was not long before we had our first Keynote speaker. This was Stephen Jones who I met the day before and had an interesting discussion about carer involvement.
Stephen spoke about Psychosocial Interventions in Mental Health Nursing. Interventions along with coproduction and codesign are the things I am involved in at the RCN. Stephen spoke about these very things and how these programmes are developed at the Royal College of Nursing.
Stephen spoke about those who promote these programmes at the RCN and the work they do.
He also mentioned why Mental Health Nursing is so important regarding psychosocial interventions. Stephen stressed that Psychosocial interventions are not a replacement for structured psychological therapy, medication or other evidence-based treatments, but work with and inform these treatments to provide a conprehensive approach to mental health care.
Stephen made his presentation easy to understand as he broke down the roles of mental health nursing. Stephen also spoke about the The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK. The NMC maintains a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses and nursing associates eligible to practise within the UK.
Jane Murkin NHS – Keynote Speaker
We then heard from Jane Murkin who is the deputy director of Safety and Improvement in Nursing at NHS England
Jane spoke about her reflection on nursing and delivering the best outcomes for people. She also promoted that we should consider our roles and responsibility when it comes to improving services. Jane touched on some of NHS England’s improvement approach and impact. Plus she finished up by providing an overview of the national strategic nursing priorities.
It was refreshing to hear Jane mention the importance of families, carers and patients being involved to help change systems of service delivery.
Rebecca Burgess-Dawson Presents
The third keynote speaker was Rebecca who is the National clinical lead at South West Yorkshire Parnership NHS Foundation trust.
Her presentatation was a passionate talk about mental health nursing and its overview. She challenged the audience to think closely on what mental health nursing is percived to be and why she feels cygnet has carefully thought about its identity and service when it comes to mental health nursing.
We then had a coffee break with a chance to network which then led onto how Quality Improvement helped services at one of Cygnet sites. This was presented by Rosie Hodgson-Whittle who is the Interim Hospital Manager at Cygnet Appletree.
Rosie talked about the implementation of the 7Cs Tool which aid and improve services regarding patient observations, collaboration and identifying not only the problems, but also the solutions.
Cygnet Nursing strategy
It was then back to David Wilmott who introduced Laura Sheridan and Raf Hamza on the co-production of Cygnets Nursing strategy. We heard from Raf Hamza on why lived experience should be included in developments on such strategies.
Next was more networking and lunch, where I took the time to speak to some staff and catch up with keynote speakers. I glanced through the Cygnet annual nursing conference booklet and felt the design, feel and presentation was inviting. It was easy to understand and had a professional feel to it.
Ellie Gordon presents
After lunch we heard from more keynote speakers. The first being Ellie Gordon who is the Senior Nurse for Learning disability at NHS England. Ellie talked about the importance of education and the inclusion of Nursing Associates.
Oxleas presents on Embedding Relational Security – See Think Act.
I have close links with Oxleas due to my carer forums and groups. So it was a delight to see Oxleas support the Cygnet Nursing Conference.
We got to hear from Naidoo Armoordon who is the Head of Nursing at Oxleas.
Naidoo was joined by Emma Hopkins who is the practice development nurse in the Accute & Crisis Directorate. Oxleas wanted to Showcase the transformative power of ( See Think Act ) relational secutiy knowledge and how this can be applied through a trauma informed lens.
This would be done through strong leadership within the acute inpatient setting and help enchance staff and patient well-being with a culture of excellence at Oxleas Wards.
Naidoo spoke about why such tools are needed especially when nurses face difficult challenges on the wards. As you can see from the chart below.
Emma provided a case study of a patient and how those tools produce better outcomes.
Nursing in the United states
This section was presentated by Karen Johnson who is the Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice Presendent in Behavioural Health at UHS. Karen was joined by Valerie Devereaux who is the Vice President of Nursing and Behavioural Health at UHS.
Cygnet is a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, which is based in the states. UHS owns and operates 400 facilities across 39 US states including Washington D.C, Puerto Rico and of course the UK. These sites include
Acute Care Hospitals Ambulatory Surgery Centers Behavioral Health Facilities Freestanding Emergency Departments
Karen spoke about the state of US health care, which included the length of stay within inpatient facilities and residential facilities. She focused on the importance of the US 2024 National Suicide Strategy and the focus on
Community-Based Suicide Prevention Treatment and Crisis Services Surveilance, Quality Improvement and Research Health Equity in Suicide Prevention
It was interesting to hear what the Nursing Trends and challenges are in the US as there seems to be similar challenges over in the states as well as in the UK.
Breakout sessions
Next we had a choice of 4 Breakout sessions where I attened 2 of those sessions
Caring for a person with Diabetes Intervention and escalation of an unwell person Role of engagement when performing observations Support and engagement in social care
I was interested in the session regarding diabetes, since my mother suffered greatly with the illness.
I remember the difficult challanges of trying to care not only for her mental health, but how her physical health was in a serious situation.
Cygnet Nursing awards
This section of the conference was one of the events I was looking forward to. I wanted to see what the nursing staff were celebrated for and how they were celebrated. You get to hear the works Cygnet Nursing staff carry out during such awards.
I was not disappointed as I watched David present awards. I heard how Julie won her award for the work she does with carers at the Cygnet Hexham site
I also observed not only the nursing awards. but also graduation certificates which was presented by Mandy ianchard who is Cygnet’s Head of Learning & Development.
Overall I enjoyed the day and felt I was not only watching the conference, but was also a part of it.
Welcome back to my latest project to raise awareness of the great work of carer activists. This time I was lucky to get an interview with the great Nadia Taylor. Nadia is a long time unpaid carer who is the chair of the excellent Carers Network charity that covers the city of Westminster, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Nadia spoke about her lived experience as a carer and why she tries had to make a difference for other unpaid carers. She engages heavily with service providers and wants to make a change on national policy when it comes to supporting carers rights
Welcome to another update of an event for carers. This blog is of the special event produced by carers for unpaid carers. The event was developed by unpaid carers Faith Smith and Annette Davis.
The point of the event was a chance for carers who care for someone unpaid to come together and showcase a talent to link carers together. This was a special event because it was produce by unpaid carers for unpaid carers. Both Annette and Faith felt carers have something to offer that can bring the community together. After viewing an exhibition, both carers felt inspired to develop an event which took some months of planning and organising.
I have known Annette and Faith a very long time and we often collaborate when there is a chance. So with the support of Carer network lead Laura Sheridan at Cygnet, we felt this would be a chance for Carers of London to learn from each other and develop confidence to share their talents.
For the first ever Positive Talents show took place at Cygnet ChurchHill hospital over in Lambeth. The location was very easy to get to, with good transport links.
There was also a good turn out as we got support from unpaid carers wanting to attend to reduce isolation and also carers who wanted to showcase their talents.
Annette and Faith opened the positive talent show with an explanation of to why carers should be given the chance to show off any skills or talents. It is just a matter of being given the chance.
We were then shown a video of a carer performing poetry. The poem was performed by Brenda Onatade who could not be present. However you can see Brenda perform her poetry below.
Next we had a video from Jo Lambert who also could not attend, however Faith gave a great talk about the video which you can see below
You can see Jo Lambert’s video called “Fairy lights of Hope” below
We then had a talk by Annette on Looking after yourself. Her talk was titled LAM “looking after ME”
As being a poet, I wanted to showcase the importance of carers recognising their talents and performed a poem called “What helps me”
I also did a learn and share session for carers to relate to the poem, which you can view below.
There was then a focus on positive wellbeing messages that were shared by the audience of carers. We all shared what was positive for our own health.
.After my poetry performance we then moved onto a comedy routine by another carer called Jo.
The routine helped destigmatize mental ill health as sometimes the only option for difficult challenges is laughter. You can see the comedy section below.
Next was a game of charades, where carers can feel welcome and join in the activities
Then next was refreshments and food along with networking. The food was prepared by Cygnet chief Titilayo
For the 2nd half of the Talent show. We had a presentation from Southwark Wellbeing hub on their focus for Black carers. There is a launch of the Black Carers Project, which I have included the poster below.
Then we have a dance section from carer Jackie Christie, where you can see the performance below
After the lovely dance show, we had another comedy routine, this time performed by Faith Smith, again the video is placed below.
Next was my 2nd poetry performance on the importance of setting a legacy.
The last two performance were led by Annette who did a few song sessions
I felt the event turned out very well since this was the first ever carer talent show. We all shared from each other and felt that we were part of something very big. Thanks for the support from the following carer centres who also helped to promote and connect carers to each other. These being Lambeth carers hub, Sutton Carers and Imago community and a special thanks to Cygnet for hosting the event for carers, plus providing food.
All who took part were awarded certificate, so well done to them.
Given the chance, carers can do some amazing things for the community. Carers can be supported to showcase their skills and talents.
A Caring Mind 