Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing College is delighted to announce it will be rolling out its new ‘Planning for Discharge and Next Steps’ course this November.
Lead Peer Support Worker Pippa Mileham said: “Through discussions and feedback from teams and patients, we recognised that discharge from services can be a really challenging time, so thought this might be an area where we could look at putting together an intervention to support with this. Our aim is to help participants understand the process, embrace the challenges it may bring and feel empowered to move forward positively.”
The course will help participants explore the following areas:
- What is recovery?
- Different perspectives on discharge (clinical, lived experience)
- Psychological models, including coping with change, attachment, endings, validating emotions
- Community support post-discharge (including understanding changing services through Community Mental Health Transformation)
- Wellbeing planning, including self-care, early warning sign, crisis planning
- Assertiveness and empowerment
- Coping practically (including managing medication, seeking help)
Pippa continued: “As with all our courses, it will be co-facilitated by Peer Support Workers, whose role involves empowering individuals, promoting a recovery-focused approach and sharing hope – all factors that will help aid a successful and positive discharge process.”
The course has been co-produced by a large panel of people, including those with lived experience (Peer Support Workers and Experts by Experience), psychology, nursing, occupational therapy as well as leads and navigators from the Locality Community Partnership team and the Complex Emotional Needs team.
The first course will be delivered in Cheltenham in the autumn, every Thursday from 6 November to 11 December (10.30am–12.30pm), at St Paul’s Medical Centre. The course is for people who are looking towards discharge from a recovery team who may:
- have a range of thoughts and feelings about discharge (this may include anxiety through to excitement)
- be some way off discharge but may gain from some understanding of the process
- benefit from exploring the topics covered and benefit from talking to those who have already been through the process of discharge from a team themselves.
Please note, this course is not for people who have already been discharged or who are on the brink of discharge. This is to allow participants to embed their skills and knowledge of topics covered on the course to help them plan and prepare for a good discharge.
Deputy Manager Naomi Wilmott added: “We are incredibly grateful to everyone who is contributing to this important project and look forward to seeing it being rolled out to different venues and services across the county in the future.
“People can self-refer to the course – please see our website for details. If you have any questions about a referral or need support, please contact us.
“For any other questions or to discuss the course or the College further, please contact ghwc@ghc.nhs.uk or call 0300 421 4414.
For further information about Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing College and the courses it offers, visit: Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing College > Glos Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust
