Introduction

The objective of the Training and Support Program is to assist individuals who are recovering from a mental health difficulties, through developing and increasing their levels of self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth. We aim to use employment rehabilitation as an approach to improving better mental health.

The Program aims to not only develop the participants' self-confidence but to enhance the particpants' educational achievement and personal development. The Program will provide each participantwith the opportunity to undertake a work placement of his or her choice and duration. Our overall aim is to promote empowerment for all trainees. The success of our Program is based upon the foundation that it has been designed and implemented by people with primary experience of mental health difficulties.

Training and Support Program Objectives

1) To facilitate a Training and Support program that will foster self-confidence, self-worth and self-esteem

2) To enhance a person's skills and motivation in order to increase their employability

3) To actively increase the participation of people with primary experience of mental health difficulties in research into mental health in Northern Ireland, through the Program design

4) To use employment rehabilitation as an approach to improving better mental health

Training and Support Program Design and Content

The Training and Support Program is of 20 weeks duration. A total of twelve participants take part in each Program and they attend the Program for a maximum of 15 hours per week. The Program involves continuous team building exercises, which assists in developing self-confidence and in fostering support and trust within the group. The participants are able to provide regular feedback on the design and content of the Program, wh has proved to be useful in the continuing development and enhancement of the Program. We have entered into partnership with the North West Institute of Further and Higher Education to deliver key areas of the Program and we have established links with other voluntary and statutory agencies to deliver specific courses and seminars. The tutors that we have selected for the Program have all met with our criterion; that is we only take tutors on the Program that have empathy with the client group and an understanding of mental health.

Throughout the Program, each trainee is able to avail of support from both the Training and Development Officer and the Volunteer Support Workers. We also offer an in-house Advocacy Service for the participants on the Program. Following the completion of the Program, we will provide ongoing support to participants in whatever path they chose to follow as we believe that the aftercare may prove equally as valuable to the participants as the support they will receive throughout the Program. Our Training and Support Program is able to regulate itself by improving and modifying any element of the training and this is achieved through regular feedback from the participants and through an evaluation of the Program by participants once they have completed it. We have constructed comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Policies and Procedures for the purpose of collating information on the Program.

Contents Of the Training and Support Program

Stress Management and Relaxation.

During the stress management element of the course we examine what stress is, what causes stress and some of the coping mechanisms we may use to deal with stress in everyday situations. Within this course we also look at Alternative Therapies such as meditation, massage, Reiki and Aromatherapy. This coursealso incorporates communication and assertiveness skills and will run for the entire length of the Program

Art Therapy

Within the Art Therapy participants will have the opportunity to experiment with different forms of Art such as modelling with clay, glass painting, silk painting, pastels / chalks amongst others. This element of the Program will run for the entire 20 weeks with a two-hour session allocated every week.

Information Technology (IT)

The main aim of this part of the Program is to introduce trainees to some basic I.T. skills or to enhance skills that they already possess. Participants work towards their CLAIT 1 Certificate for the beginners and the advanced class work towards a CLAIT 2 Certificate. This course will continue on a two-hour basis for the complete 20 weeks of the Program.

Personal Development through Team Building.

The main objective of this element of the Program is to foster selfÐexploration and to raise levels of selfÐesteem through team building and personal growth. Re-orientation Ð this includes tasks in communication and numeracy; this augments the skills and abilities that the participants already have. It will also serve to increase self-confidence and self-belief.

Feel the Fear

This short 4-week course offers the opportunity to explore fears. It will address issues such as the fears that we live with, five truths about fears, striving for healthy assertiveness and positive versus negative feelings amongst others.

Seminars

1) Benefits advice. The main aim of the benefits advice is to increase awareness of the benefits system, such as in renewals, back to work allowance, housing benefit etc.

2) Seminar on Bullying and Harassment. This seminar aims to address some of the issues surrounding bullying and harassment such as to how to deal with bullying, your legal rights in this situation etc.

3) Careers advice. This element of the Program will be carried out during week ten when a representative from the E.G.S.A. will attend the Program and give a short presentation on career options but will also give individual career advice to trainees.

4) Drug awareness. The main aim of the drug awareness seminar is to make trainees aware of not only the dangers of using illegal drugs but also the dangers of buying pharmaceutical drugs from anywhere other than a pharmacist. It will also address the dangerous interaction that can occur when using both illegal drugs and pharmaceutical drugs. Finally, this will also address some good practices when using pharmacies.

5) Housing advice. The aim of the housing advice is to make all trainees aware of housing issues and to address any issues that they make come upon if they are homeowners or tenants. Job Search Skills - A two-hour session will be allocated to job search skills in the final eight weeks of the Program. This will incorporate the following:

Interview techniques. Participant receive advice in all areas of seeking employment and one key area in this is in relation to interviews. This element of the course focuses on how best to conduct yourself during an interview; it will look at types of questions asked in interviews and their appropriate responses, interpersonal interaction in relation to interviews etc. This involves role-playing and the setting up of mock interviews.

Advice on areas such as Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) design and filling out job application forms. All trainees will be given advice on completing a C.V and completing job application forms.

Seminars on career opportunities from people who work in various fields. Participants have the opportunity to select different careers from various fields and we will then invite guest speakers from each of the areas to come along and do a presentation on their chosen profession. This is to ensure that the trainees have as much information as possible on the roles involved in and the benefits of working in different areas. Also, from these they can then select an area in which they may like to do their work placement.

Educational advice. A specialised advisor is available to give educational advice to trainees on courses available, requirements, duration and so forth.

Careers Guidance. All participants are able to avail of one to one careers guidance.

Work placements. If any of the particpants wish to partake in a work placement, for whatever length of time they chose, we will arrange this for them and support them throughout this time. This is an optional element of the Program and is not compulsory.

Tai Chi

Trainees will have a 5-week introductory course to Tai Chi for two hours a week, to aid relaxation and to learn techniques of producing calmness and trnquility.

Program Evaluation.

Participants are continuously evaluated during the Program. In order to assess if the Program meets its overall objectives of raising levels of self-esteem, self-worth and self-confidence, trainees will complete questionnaires at regular intervals that will be used to assess these concepts. We aim to take a holistic approach to training, therefore a lot of our evaluation procedures involves more than evidence of written work, it often will be much more conceptual and open to assessment through the use of scientific questionnaires and feedback.

How to get on the Training and Support Program

We currently employ a referral system to Program. Referrals can come from C.P.N.'s, health care professionals, or through Voluntary / Statutory Organisations. Referral forms will ask for background information on the person being referred and the main reasons for referral. Following the referral process potential trainees will be asked to attend an informal interview with the Training and Development Officer.

Summary

From the above outline of Program material, it is clear that the central objectives of our Program are to assist participants in their rehabilitation through employment enhancement and to increase their levels of self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth. We also wish to assist the participants, in their own mental health care management. This includes self-advocacy, which will facilitate communication with G.P.'s, C.P.N.'s, Consultant Psychiatrists, Pharmacists and other health care workers. In essence we wish to promote empowerment for our trainees, we wish the particpants to take more control of their lives and to become self-responsible and self-reliant.

We feel that our Training and Support Program contains elements of all our core areas and that S.T.E.E.R. does offer Support, Training, Education, Employment and Research opportunities to people experiencing mental health difficulties.