Our Reflections: Perth and Kinross Recovery Conversation Cafe

Our Reflections: Perth and Kinross Recovery Conversation Cafe.

8th April 2015

First things First

A huge apology to all those who wanted to see our reflections on this event sooner, due to many different challenges I have only been able to look at this now. However it does not stop me from Reflecting on the wonderful experience in Perth & Kinross with a huge smile, especially when you see the “Recovery Bounces’)

Into Action

Patricia Leitch was the driving force behind this café having attended a Conversation Café in the Borders with Megan, they were on a mission to make sure this would happen in Perth and Kinross. Having met the working group, we looked at who we wanted to personally invite to this café, how many people for a first café and where indeed we would have it. The decision to use the main hall in St Mathews was the perfect choice.

St Mathews Church, Tay Street, Perth

Our aim

Our aim for the café was to have dialogue with intention throughout the day, and contribute to recovery in Perth and Kinross by inviting all the key assets to the event. To make Recovery more visible in Perth & Kinross. To map all the fantastic recovery work that was already happening and to drive forward the Recovery Agenda. There was a desire to have a more robust set of outcomes for the recovery services in Perth and Kinross.We organized our working group meetings between North Inch Campus and Cair Scotland’s, The Web Project.

Event Planning

A huge thank you to all members of the café host teamwho worked so hard, and a huge thank you to the 2 Lead Hosts who came as guests and put on their pinnies when we needed a helping hand Jenny and Joan thank you so much.

The Event Programme

10am Arrive for Tea and Coffee

10.15Introduction & Etiquette

10:30Seeds One – Video and Lived Experience

10:45Question One

11.15am Tea Break

11:45Seed Two

12.10Question Two

12:40Cafe News & Themes

01:00pm Lunch

02.00Seed Three

02:10Question Three

02.35Tea Break

02:50Whole Group Conversation

03:30Commitment

4pmClose

The café in Action

Were we successful in achieving our aim?

Yes……From our survey monkey only 25.00% of people who attended had never attended a ‘World style’ conversation café before and……..76.47% of participants said they left with new ideas

Who came to the event?

A total of 71 people came to the event. Invitations were allocated to each member of the working group, who in turn invited key assets with an interest in Recovery, in the community, in services, with a lived experience of Recovery and from Mutual Aidand treatment services.

Feedback

Feedback was received informally on the day and then a survey monkey sent out. All feedback given on the day in response to the dialogue questions has been typed and will be available to interested parties in a separate document.. A special mention to Megan Cassidy our “young apprentice” who did a fantastic job of set up, administration, collecting all the feedback. Interestingly The responses were Made up from 10.% Treatment Provider (this is the smallest number of treatment providers at a cafe, 75% Other Staff and 10.00% Person in recovery. A selection of these below:-

We asked - What was your overall experience of the Perth & Kinross Conversation Café?

“Positive. Good mix of multiagency professionals and those with personal/lived experience. Did feel that the conversation veered towards substance use quite a lot of the time; and better steer towards mental health and joint recovery would have been useful”

“A great appreciation of the amount of work that went into the event, and the co-ownership and collaboration. Great to see Recovery work in evidence at an event such as a Recovery Cafe Event, with people from all sections of the community coming together to share and discuss themes which are known to us all and which are common to us all. The experience was one of sharing and giving, taking notice and learning”

“I thoroughly enjoyed taking part and met many people who were in recovery and working in services or both. It was extremely well organised and attended”

We asked -What themes emerged in the conversations that you took part in at the event?

“Recovery can be short term or lifelong. A range of flexible and responsive services are required. Peer support/mutual aid is viewed positively by those with lived experience. A spectrum of support services are needed from early intervention/prevention and family support, to inpatient treatment. Support for transitions between services is essential. Need to consider a whole family approach with support.”

“The desire / need for provision for Crisis situations. The desire / need for a central Hub of Wellbeing. The importance of sharing of information and being connected, whoever you may be. The need for wider choices so that access to any kind of recovery-based support or activity is easier and can happen when a person says they are ready to act (without having to wait).”

“The meaning of recovery, the difficulties in making the right combinations of support among agencies AND making that experience alive for clients, Changing the culture of stigma in communities.”

We asked – Did you leave the event with any new ideas? 76.4% said yes

“Need to consider the separate needs of mental health and substance use, and then the joint needs of those who have difficulties in both areas and consider how best to deliver a more seamless service for these people. More joined up working and thinking required to better support people. Statutory services should be services of last resort – investment in community based alternatives is essential. There are conflicting and competing policies, strategies and action plans that could be more streamlines.”

“The importance of lived experience in setting up recovery communities”

“.To start a similar wave of recovery in Perth and Kinross, to spread the recovery message around all my neighbouring agencies and colleagues.”

We asked – for any final comments for the SRC that related to your experience at the café.

“Positive opportunity for networking. Good to hear lived experience stories directly. Big questions left about what next? Who carries the flag forward? Feels like everyone's responsibility, but not anyone's job!

“I was a social work student helping at the event. I really enjoyed it and felt it might be the way to go for the future of trying to find innovative ways of helping people with drug and alcohol misuse issues. Also for changing people's attitudes towards people in this position by including them in being creative in thinking of ways to maximise chances of recovery.”

“Covered some important areas for development. I was glad to be asked to be involved. “

Visibility of recovery - initial impact

31recovery commitments were made

1)Support self-directed recovery and encourage colleagues and services to respect this rather than be the expert.

2)To living a substance free life and hopefully being able to contribute to others in recovery in some-way.

3)To consider all options that I/ow team can contribute to in terms of improving outcomes for those that want our support to improve their health and wellbeing in terms of recovery journeys

4)To work together NHS/Tayside/ Perth College/PKC to identify and develop opportunities for increasing work skills and work experience for those in recovery that could lead to further education, peer mentoring, volunteering and sustained employment in partnership taking into expertise of the agencies.

5)Doing SMART Recovery Training just now and will start to facilitate and support a group soon (in Perth). Access more recovery based knowledge

6)To be creative in helping those in my care and show courage into stepping out with my normal job role with my colleagues to make a difference.

7)To participate/find out information on the Recovery Walk

8)Promote the value of recovery as a supportive outcome as well as a journey. Spread the word about how important it is to care about us.

9)Support share with services and encourage

10)To encourage recovery to take place, be accepted and acknowledged

11)Make my place of work recovery focussed

12)To support the development of a Recovery college in Drug and alcohol and mental health in Perth and Kinross

13)To network more connecting our project together

14)To achieve good mental health by leading a recovery based life

15)To continue my ongoing commitment to challenge the barriers to recovery on a daily basis within my workplace. Recovery continues to matter.

16)Find out about and to complete and take part in the Recovery Walk

17)To understand that recovery is an individual journey which can last a lifetime - This does not have to be negative but in fact positive, therefore my commitment to recovery is to ensure that an asset based approach is incorporated into what I do on a daily basis

18)To develop more positive recovery focused reception and meeting rooms/areas

19)To support recovery in Falkirk and encourage and nourish a recovery capital in Forth Valley

20)Actively research and have a focus for recovery within our service. Shape activities with more of a recovery theme and encourage clients in thinking about recovery and making changes, Also allow myself time to take in the work of SRC and have more info. Be part of driving forward the change of joint recovery partnership

21)To ensure that all new staff members within the Perth and Kinross Council are Recovery Trained as part of their induction

22)To continue to see people with problems as people and give them the time of day and encourage others to do the same.

23)To continue to promote it both at work and in the community and to support people on their journey

24)Too help others in recovery, I would like to see new treatments, and maybe start one as, I believe that an exercise group daily doing physical activities is good for body and mind!! Also animal therapies as people with issues don't feel love but animals show you unconditional love!!

25)Write to the Scottish government to promote anti-stigma campaigning and promote funding for over 25s receiving paid employment in organisations such as Giraffe Trading and Check In. Perhaps campaign on a local level for more education on mental health issues and attend recovery college courses.

26)Promote and progress 'supported employment' service in P & K for individuals in recovery. Will begin this by linking in more closely with drugs and alcohol team

27)Will work together NHS Tayside/PKC/Perth College to develop with skills and potentially work experience for those in recovery that could lead to further education employment or volunteering. We will tap until the expertise of other agencies

28)To Promote and progress and give appropriate support to help people in employment sustain that employment also to help people find work after progressing through the gradual steps forward i.e. work experience/voluntary work etc.,

29)To be an example to other addicts in Recovery or moving into recovery and to find a path which will allow me to stay (clean and Alive and in Recovery), move away from place of basic survival, and to also use my experience to help other recovering addicts or people/that would benefit from where I’ve come from

30)To continue helping those who ask for it. To establish a recovery village/holiday camp.

31)To develop an assessment for clinical treatment service to become recovery focused to promote recovery from the initial meeting between patients and clinical staff

The café tables where wishes and commitments emerged….

In addition - on our lovely recovery trees

• Less stigma surrounding Mental Ill Health and Recovery
• Greater joined up working with clear knowledge of what is being done and how it can be prepared
• Recovery – individual, takes time, needs support, holistic approach
• A shared understanding
• I wish for a long term recovery programme
• Drop in for peer support
• Crisis house
• Supported employment service for everyone
• I wish attitudes changed and didn’t contribute to holding people back and feeling more like failures
• I wish for services to communicate and connect more
• Recovery to begin on the day service is accessed
• More joined up working – not just conversations about doing it – actually do it! We need to change things to really make a difference!
• To achieve good mental health
• Better all rounded services and activates/physical and personally too achieve my goal of having my own family
• Recovery – acceptance – help – reduction of stigma
• For a recovery with 100% abstinence
• To view recovery as something we all go through as humans
• Fewer stigmas to mental health – allowing us all to accept ourselves individual, be honest, realistic and mean it! That’s a successful recovery.
• Recovery = journey = less stigma and acceptance community wide
• My wish is for the community to open their hearts and let people in recovery fit in
• I wish that people who have no experience of drug or mental health issues realised how anyone can be overcome by these problems. Then maybe these people would engage with the existing services if and when they do.
• Walk in someone else’s shoes before criticising them

Visibility of recovery; developing impact (recovery bounce)

The most significant bounce was that the Policy Officer, our wonderful Patricia’s seconded post was extended with the joint Recovery Project which was a pilot with Recovery and mental health. So she thought the café was “her swan song”. Her new title “Social Prescribing Officer” Now that’s a recovery bounce, and I do believe a first.

Several conversation cafes have been rolled out throughout Perth & Kinross

A new group set up - F.R.E.E Flexible Recovery Expert by Experience.

RAW Spirit Drama Group set Up

The Perth & Kinross week long Wellbeing Fayre was being launched and Ricky Rapanewski, Project Manager Substance Misuse and Mental Health Services designated a Perth and Kinross Recovery Day.

A fabulous representation of the Recovery Walk 2015 from PerthKinross Flag flew proudly….

What did we learn?

.Just when you think you have done all you can do, there is more to be done. Perth & Kinross have showed such a willingness to move on their Recovery Agenda and Outcomes.

Perth & Kinross have been incredibly innovative, lots of firsts, new relevant job titles, joint Recovery and Mental Health Service, has a Recovery club in Perth Prison. Keeping Recovery visible with a designated Recovery Day been announced at the Wellbeing Fayre.

To put value on the de-brief session for the working group in January 2015. I chose the Black Watch Museum and Café for Coffee and cake and to appreciate the success of the Recovery Conversation café in Perth and Kinross. This was very special as I have links to the Black Watch Regiment but did not know there was such a fantastic museum. It was really special to see all our friends once more sitting round a table together, gathering up all the feedback and looking at ” the next right step”

Anne-Marie Quigg

Scottish Recovery Consortium –Dec 2015

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