Not only did we improve relationships with the people we supported, but we were able to give them solutions and interventions that were really tailored to what they needed.
When I moved from Learning Disabilities into the CMRN, it wasn't long before I started wondering about the possibilities in this new area. A practical way to meet national guidelines.
Now I am a Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Clinical Psychologist working as part of a team of Psychologists across the Cheshire and Merseyside Rehabilitation Network. This is a network of wards in different hospitals, and community services, providing specialist rehabilitation to patients with brain injuries or complex physical trauma.
The CMRN ensures that each patient receives the right rehabilitation at the right time, in the appropriate environment. My wards are based at the Walton Centre, the host organization of the CMRN and the earliest point that a patient can enter the network.
Our patients come to us for a variety of different reasons. They may have sustained a brain injury or physical trauma in a car accident, for example, or experienced neurological trauma as a result of an illness. What is often a common thread is the very real emotional trauma that the individual and their loved ones are going through.
The person may have lost their autonomy, identity or ability to communicate. They may not be able to walk or perform other physical tasks. And given the nature of brain trauma, this may also have happened very suddenly. It's so crucial, therefore, that we're doing the best we can to help restore their sense of self, and treating them as the individual they are, and their family know and love.
Although most UK rehabilitation guidelines state person-centred care in rehab is important, they don't tell us how to do it.
One Page Profiles offered me a practical solution to take forward, and are anchored in best practice for Clinical Psychology.
They just fit the bill in so many ways, such as:
• Helping us to see the person
• Providing us with a framework for therapeutic work
• Building relationships with families and loved ones
• Supporting smooth, integrated journeys • Being easy to update as changes happen
How are we doing so far? Laura, who joined us at the unit from Lancaster University, undertook a thematic analysis of staff member's experiences of working with Psychology.
Here are some of the quotes she got from my colleagues on the theme of our developments in person-centred rehabilitation:
“I actually love that it gives you a sense of the person before the injury because in such severe injuries like the ones we see you can forget they have had this amazing life before.”
Isobel “One Page Profiles enable you to see the person, rather than just a patient in a bed with all of these difficulties.”
Kate-Marie “The first thing I do is look for the One Page Profile so that I can hold a conversation with the patient that is meaningful to them.”
This feedback has been really encouraging for us at the Walton Centre, and motivates us to keep on with our efforts. It just goes to show, even in the most difficult of circumstances, person-centred approaches can make a real difference to people's quality of life and the care they receive.
Written by Dr. Sam Townsend