How Does It Work?
Community Mentoring in Exeter
The mentoring service in Exeter has grown out Age Concern Exeter’s “Linking Lives” service which started in November 2000. This service was aimed at supporting older people with functional mental health problems to engage in a wide range of social opportunities. Its purpose is to build confidence, self-esteem and motivation,resulting in improved independence and less reliance on statutory services.
In September 2006 a new service “Link2” was launched which broadened the remit of Linking Lives to work with people over 50 by offering a more preventative service for people who for a wide range of reasons – loss, change, illness, isolation – were either not coping well or were at risk of depression or anxiety.
The two services now work closely together to offer a seamless service to people over 50 in the city. The co-ordinators of the two services are both qualified Occupational Therapists with mental health experience and are supported by a team of paid enablers who work under their guidance and supervision to support the service plan agreed with the participant. On average, the co-ordinators and enablers offer the mentoring service over a 3 month period.
The key to the success of the service is that the co-ordinators will undertake an holistic assessment of the participants’ wants and needs and seek to meet these directly or indirectly by signposting to other organisations. The co-ordinators need an excellent knowledge of local resources in the city and strong links with local GPs and primary care teams, community mental health teams, Adult and Community Services care management teams and psychology services. They also need to be linked in with local voluntary and community groups.
Exeter is fortunate in having a plethora of clubs, groups and volunteering opportunities that the service can use according to participants’ interests. Individuals are supported to join groups or activities of their choice and followed up over time to ensure all is going well. Many people will join two or three activities and begin to make supportive friendships that can turn their lives around.
Where appropriate groups do not exist the co-ordinators will seek to create them, targeting a particular like-minded group of people or a offering a particular activity. In this way games groups, quiz groups, swimming groups and pub lunch groups have been formed. Structured 10 week therapeutic groups are also run to examine strategies that can overcome common, shared problems and barriers and build confidence.
Much work is also undertaken on a one to one basis working towards a goal plan in a stepped programme approach. In this way people who have not been out of the house for years or find it impossible to use public transport can be helped over time to regain their confidence and then supported to build new social networks.
Approximately 60% of referrals come from local health and social care professionals and 40% from the community or self-referrals. Around 25% of participants have long-standing mental health problems, 50% are at risk of deteriorating mental health and 25% are isolated, bored and lonely.
