Making Every Adult Matter - Faith Miller

 
I attended this conference at the beginning of December '08 as a Cirrus 9 representative and as a practitioner. The conference was hosted by Homeless Link in conjunction with Clinks, DrugScope and Mind. The focus of the day was getting everyone’s heads together to clarify strategies for addressing the needs of clients with multiple needs who receive input from at least one of the following sectors: homelessness, criminal justice, substance misuse and mental health.

 
It was an interesting day that drew our attention to new changes on the horizon including:

• The introduction of Personalisation with clients being allocated a pot of money that allows them to choose and commission services to suit their individual needs.
• An increasing shift towards Service User Involvement and services being shaped to meet the requirements of their users – Turning Point's Chief Executive, Lord Victor Adebowale stated in his presentation that Turning Point are increasingly regarding their clients as 'customers', with the intention to provide what the customer would like in order to ensure their attendance.
• It was stated very clearly to everyone at this conference that we have very tough times ahead. The standards of service need to improve because clients with 'complex' needs continue to slip through the net and have their needs unmet; there will be greater demand for these services as we enter a national recession and each of these sectors will have significantly less money over the next few years to carry-out their work as a consequence of this financial crisis.

 
In facing these challenges, the overwhelming message was that workers need to draw on their own inner strength and good intention to deliver as good a service as we possibly can to each client we encounter. Ex-service users were also included in this conference and each one presented a clear and moving account of their experience receiving help from these services, saying that whilst they encountered some workers who were very indifferent, it was the workers who took a real interest in the client’s specific situation, going out of their way to tailor the service to meet this person’s needs, that helped the transition towards a better life occur - one woman explained "it was the people that counted, they never gave up on me".

 
Inspirations that I took from the day after listening to professionals and ex-service users alike included:

"to help each client develop a life with hope and meaning"

"services taking a 3D approach – addressing mind, body and soul"

"Establish a vision of what matters and maintain it day-to-day"

"Develop a local evidence-base and then communicate the results"

"Best joining-up happens at the interface with the user – the closer you get to the user the greater the collaboration"

Throughout the day very few people took much interest in the Cirrus 9 stand - maybe this was to be expected. I’m sure that taster sessions would have interested people much more. The day left me with mixed feelings however. On the one hand I felt disappointed by the reminder that holistic therapies are very much off most people’s radars and as the purses tighten, therapies will be very vulnerable to being cut. On the other hand, there was a definite message that professionals MUST address the whole needs of their clients, and this includes the person’s mind, body and soul as much as their more practical requirements. Also, what service users want, is what services will increasingly be providing. Although this sounds idealistic, it is in reality where things are going. I left this conference with the impression therefore, that our energies are probably best spent finding out from our service users how much they value the complementary therapies that they receive and what they actually want, because if service users value this part of their treatment, and it attracts and retains them in services, then complementary therapies will be here for the long term.

 
One Day Training Workshop

Cirrus 9 is pleased to announce a one day training workshop for therapists in partnership with the Terrence Higgins Trust exploring issues around and gaining an understanding of Blood Borne Viruses on 12th May 2008 in Nottingham.
Cost £30 including certificate and lunch.

For more information click here

 
Focus Group & AGM a success!

40 people attended Cirrus 9’s (C9) first focus group and AGM. We were pleased to meet and greet service users, therapists, drug workers, a representative from the NTA and the association’s original founder, Val Thomas.

5 questions were posed. Many of the themes generated at the meeting confirm the validity of their current inclusion in our constitution.

1. Why is there a need for Cirrus 9?
2. What functions would you like to see Cirrus 9 perform?
3. What are the best ways to achieve these functions?
4. How could Cirrus 9 help you / your organisation over the next year?
5. How would you / your organisation like to be involved in Cirrus 9 and what skills do you think you could bring?

A lively debate followed and many of our initial themes were confirmed. Comments include:

• Cirrus 9 implies credibility.
• Cirrus 9 takes the lead on training for therapists in this field.
• CTs complete a package of drug treatment, providing choice and offering another form of support.
• Platform for empowering service users to access information and resources to support the recovery process.
• We can gather more consistent evidence to show effectiveness of CTs.
• Partnerships with commissioners, NTA, treatment providers, networking
• Special interest groups
• Annual conference
• Support through Hep C treatment
• Support with the production of policies and procedures
• Specialist training in substance misuse for therapists

19 people completed ‘Expression of interest forms’ and offered C9 the following skills:

• Contribution of free time to promote complementary therapies
• Cultural specific knowledge BME and drugs and alcohol
• First hand knowledge of specific treatments in recovery and whilst receiving Hepatitis C treatment
• Meeting venues
• Mapping services

Special interest groups suggested: Conference 2008 devoted to CTs and substance misuse Policy development group Hepatitis C support group Complementary Therapies for BME communities

A New committee emerges The AGM followed the focus group and new committee members have come forward to support the next year of development. We have elected a new Chairperson, Nicky Grantham and Vice Chairperson Dave Wright. Pip Bateman was elected as Secretary and Rosie Humphreys as Treasurer. We also welcomed aboard two service user board members Tina Draper and Anne Adamson.

Next Open meeting: Wednesday 16th January 2008, 3 – 5pm venue to be confirmed

• Focus group Results October 2007
• Annual report 2007

 
Research - Project 6 produce results!

The Complementary Health team at Project 6 in Keighley, West Yorkshire has carried out a 6-month study to investigate the effectiveness of Complementary Therapies with drug and alcohol users. The findings were positive in that they demonstrated the effectiveness of Complementary Therapies in supporting individuals to: either reduce or stabilise their current substance use; maintain abstinent; improve the symptoms most commonly associated with substance misuse; and improve general well-being.

Project 6 is a Tier 2 and Tier 3 service provider offering a range of treatment interventions to approximately 700 service users per year. Project 6 was established in 1989 and the Complementary Therapies became an integral part of the services offered at Project 6 in October 2000. The Complementary Therapy therapeutic interventions have developed overtime to meet the needs and preferences of our service users.

The Complementary Therapy team comprises of three part-time therapists; Jill Allott, Carole Gunning and Lyn Hill who between them provide six therapies – Reflexology, Shiatsu, Indian Head Massage, Reiki, Auricular Acupuncture and Electro Stimulation Therapy as well as self-help tools in the form of essential oils, Bach Flower remedies, herbal teas to name but a few which is part of our overall and ongoing strategy of self-empowerment to encourage the potential of self-help becoming a therapy for life.

Lyn Hill – Complementary Therapist – Project 6

Full Report.......(PDF file)

 
Cirrus 9 raise their profile again!

DrugScope offered the Cirrus 9 team the chance to take part in their first national conference at Homerton College, Cambridge on 12th & 13th July 2007. The Cirrus 9 stand received a lot of interest from drug workers, service managers, commissioners, service users, therapists and many other professionals.

The therapy taster sessions of onsite massage, Indian Head Massage and Reiki were well received. Cirrus 9 raise their profile again!

DrugScope offered the Cirrus 9 team the chance to take part in their first national conference at Homerton College, Cambridge on 12th & 13th July 2007. The Cirrus 9 stand received a lot of interest from drug workers, service managers, commissioners, service users, therapists and many other professionals.

The therapy taster sessions of onsite massage, Indian Head Massage and Reiki were well received.

58 x taster therapy sessions were delivered throughout the event by the Cirrus 9 team that included Pip Bateman, Kath Markham and Rosie Humphreys. We asked recipients to make comments after they had received their treatment.

Onsite Massage

• Extremely relaxing – felt an intense emotional rush towards the end. Took about a month’s worth of tension and stress out of my shoulders. Should be available at every conference and to every service user in the country.
• Found the massage very relaxing and from a service user point of view I feel there should be more of these therapies available to us.

Indian Head Massage

• Amazing! I have had an awful 6 months and have questioned the purpose of living. This really has revived me and I feel positive that I will make good changes to my life.
• Absolutely amazing! Relaxing, felt the tension ease away. Would be great to really take this forward in the substance misuse field.

• Thanks for my first and second experience with Reiki – a very intense but good experience which I will continue for my personal well being as well as introduce to the service users at our tier 2 project. Very nice, professional definitely.
• I was privileged to be given the opportunity to experience Reiki and Indian Head Massage and both were wonderful. The therapies are great for all sorts of problems to enhance moods and make life feel more pleasant.

The conference itself not only proved to be an invaluable networking opportunity but the workshops we were able to attend were informative and provided a interesting view of the future of drug treatment.

Pip Bateman August 2007