CONTENTS


OPINION


UPDATE


PRACTICE


BOOKS


Services and commissioners can get so focused on targets and


monetary constraints, but I didn’t want that to become my priority


want that to become my priority. My priority is the person I am working with and helping them achieve the best quality of life they can.’ Jackie works in a team of social workers,


community psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, nursing assistants and community support workers. Working with people with complex mental health needs and often high levels of risk, she has a relatively small caseload of about 15 or 16 cases at a time. It is a client group she feels is particularly well suited to the ‘social capital’ approach. With both social and healthcare


professionals on the team there is the potential for confl icting approaches to care. However, in practice, Jackie says it is usually possible to fi nd common ground and adopt a holistic approach. This means off ering service users a degree


of understanding and empathy, something that was severely lacking when Jackie came into contact with the mental health system herself several years ago. While waiting for a prescription for her severely ill son she overheard a doctor describe him as ‘mad’ to one of the receptionists. ‘I was absolutely disgusted and horrifi ed that a doctor would say that in front of people and in earshot of my son. So I suppose I went on a bit of a crusade after that,’ she says. She now uses the experience as an


impetus to changing things for the better. It is a demanding job and Jackie is


grateful for her own support network of family and friends and the regular supervision she receives from her line manager and an AMHP social worker. But it is also a job that has its unique rewards. ‘To see someone with no hope that life is going to get better. It’s lovely to see them progress.’


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