Yesterday saw Ayr Central Shopping Centre turned into 'Scotch Corner' as part of the Come Back to Ayrshire and Homecoming Scotland celebrations.
They served free haggis, neeps & tatties; had free face-painting and a bouncy castle for the kids; an ice-cream stall in aid of Malcolm Sargent House; bagpipers playing throughout the day; and an on-street display of Ayrshire art, poetry and photography.
One of my photos was featured as part of the latter and it was really quite cool to see it blown up so largely for everyone to see. Quite delighted!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
On display
Monday, November 02, 2009
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh ran a "pocket sack race" down Buchanan Street and held a book signing in Borders on Saturday. i am pretty much in love with Noel Fielding! ♥
Some photos:
Some photos:
Friday, October 30, 2009
"Assisted" Self-harm
Just been reading an article on the Guardian's website, entitled "'Assisted self-harming' offered in UK hospitals", and the response given by FirstSigns - a 'self-harm voluntary organisation' - on their blog.
The Guardian simply write that,
Firstsigns, in response, have accused the newspapers of "sensationalism" and "whipping up a storm". While i was not left, at all, with this impression on reading the article, i do find myself agreeing with the point they seem to be making about the obscurity of the term 'assisted self-harm'. What they seem, to me, to be describing is not assisted self-harm, but rather assisted safety for those determined to self-harm anyway.
Terms and conspiracy theories aside, the whole shebang really got me thinking.
i've always considered the idea of 'Safe-harm' initiatives to be the ideal direction in which the NHS should head in terms of their dealing with patients who self-harm. When i first read this article, my initial, personal response was therefore one of "YES! At last!"
And then i was made to stop and take a step back by someone putting a more professional spin on the issue.
And it got me thinking.. how would i feel if, as a Youth Worker, i was asked to advocate a safe-harm programme for a young person over whom i had a professional responsibility? How would i react if, within a Youth Work context, i knew that a young person under my care was self-harming in the next room? Would the knowledge that this was all part of their care plan to recovery, or the ability to wrap a neat bandage round them afterwards, or the assurance that we could work through their emotions in a nice little worksheet after the event actually mean a thing when it comes down to a deep professional concern for that young person's well-being? i'm really not sure that it would.
But this is exactly what my ideology is asking the nursing profession to do...
And yet, from a personal or patient point of view, i can still see only benefits.
From that perspective, it seems absurd to me that these procedures haven't had a wider-scale implementation already. The whole idea of a harm-free mental health hospital or care centre is theoretical nonsense, unless it is fully and carefully followed through in practice. From what i've read, heard or experienced, that is very rare and, to be honest, quite impossible.
No ward on any hospital will ever create an environment where self-harm is a true impossibility. No staff team could ever be expected to check every patient and every visitor every time they enter the ward. No amount of bag-checking will eliminate the possibility that a patient might find a shop nearby that happens to stock sharp objects, or convince a (very naive) friend to bring in a rather large dose of their prescription medication, or keep something hidden inside their shoes or their socks or the lining of their suitcase. All the plastic cups and knives and vases in the world will not stop a patient finding another alternative if they are that determined. All the talk therapy and staff 'support' under the sun will not counteract the urge to self-harm if it's the only thing a person's used to. To think that it will is only counterproductive.
Self-harm is not something that most people can just stop. It's something that takes a great deal of time and work and effort and support to overcome and taking away a person's razor blades is not going to alter the length of that process. To take away a person's only coping mechanism, from my experience, is not only unhelpful, but can be dangerously unhealthy - by taking self-harm away completely, we not only leave them without their usual life-line, but lumber an additional dose of shame on top of their already heavy load, often driving them to unfamiliar and thus less-safe methods of self-injury.
By having a well thought-out, carefully implemented 'Safe-harm' programme in place, hospitals do not say to their patients, "We think this okay," but rather, "We understand."
If the strategy is used appropriately and well, it seems to me to have the potential to not only keep wounds 'sterile' and 'safe' - though this, too, plays an important part - but to put in place a process that truly enables the patient to work through their emotions with a member of staff and equips them to better understand the thoughts and feelings behind their self-harm, which will be vital to their long-term recovery.
How this works out in practice will be interesting to see. i'm sure that, in some ways, it will only add to the workload of an often-strained NHS service ...but if it can be persevered with and worked out in its entirity, i can see only positive outcomes for the patients themselves..
Anyone else have any thoughts or different opinions on the matter? i'd be interested to hear.
The Guardian simply write that,
Patients who self-harm are being allowed to cut themselves in hospitals and mental health units as part of a ground-breaking approach to help them hurt themselves more safely.
Care plans are drawn up for patients, detailing the circumstances in which they are allowed to cut themselves. Patients must agree, for example, to seek help from nurses if their wounds require professional dressing. Other methods of so-called "assisted self-harm" involve giving patients sterile blades. Some nurses stay with patients as they self-harm.
Medical professionals who support the controversial method of treatment argue that those determined to self-harm should be helped to minimise the risk of infection from dirty blades. But others believe helping patients self-harm goes against their code of ethics.
Ian Hulatt, mental health adviser for the Royal College of Nursing, said: "It is a very complex and confusing issue, but then, so is the phenomenon of someone hurting themselves to feel better
Firstsigns, in response, have accused the newspapers of "sensationalism" and "whipping up a storm". While i was not left, at all, with this impression on reading the article, i do find myself agreeing with the point they seem to be making about the obscurity of the term 'assisted self-harm'. What they seem, to me, to be describing is not assisted self-harm, but rather assisted safety for those determined to self-harm anyway.
Terms and conspiracy theories aside, the whole shebang really got me thinking.
i've always considered the idea of 'Safe-harm' initiatives to be the ideal direction in which the NHS should head in terms of their dealing with patients who self-harm. When i first read this article, my initial, personal response was therefore one of "YES! At last!"
And then i was made to stop and take a step back by someone putting a more professional spin on the issue.
And it got me thinking.. how would i feel if, as a Youth Worker, i was asked to advocate a safe-harm programme for a young person over whom i had a professional responsibility? How would i react if, within a Youth Work context, i knew that a young person under my care was self-harming in the next room? Would the knowledge that this was all part of their care plan to recovery, or the ability to wrap a neat bandage round them afterwards, or the assurance that we could work through their emotions in a nice little worksheet after the event actually mean a thing when it comes down to a deep professional concern for that young person's well-being? i'm really not sure that it would.
But this is exactly what my ideology is asking the nursing profession to do...
And yet, from a personal or patient point of view, i can still see only benefits.
From that perspective, it seems absurd to me that these procedures haven't had a wider-scale implementation already. The whole idea of a harm-free mental health hospital or care centre is theoretical nonsense, unless it is fully and carefully followed through in practice. From what i've read, heard or experienced, that is very rare and, to be honest, quite impossible.
No ward on any hospital will ever create an environment where self-harm is a true impossibility. No staff team could ever be expected to check every patient and every visitor every time they enter the ward. No amount of bag-checking will eliminate the possibility that a patient might find a shop nearby that happens to stock sharp objects, or convince a (very naive) friend to bring in a rather large dose of their prescription medication, or keep something hidden inside their shoes or their socks or the lining of their suitcase. All the plastic cups and knives and vases in the world will not stop a patient finding another alternative if they are that determined. All the talk therapy and staff 'support' under the sun will not counteract the urge to self-harm if it's the only thing a person's used to. To think that it will is only counterproductive.
Self-harm is not something that most people can just stop. It's something that takes a great deal of time and work and effort and support to overcome and taking away a person's razor blades is not going to alter the length of that process. To take away a person's only coping mechanism, from my experience, is not only unhelpful, but can be dangerously unhealthy - by taking self-harm away completely, we not only leave them without their usual life-line, but lumber an additional dose of shame on top of their already heavy load, often driving them to unfamiliar and thus less-safe methods of self-injury.
By having a well thought-out, carefully implemented 'Safe-harm' programme in place, hospitals do not say to their patients, "We think this okay," but rather, "We understand."
If the strategy is used appropriately and well, it seems to me to have the potential to not only keep wounds 'sterile' and 'safe' - though this, too, plays an important part - but to put in place a process that truly enables the patient to work through their emotions with a member of staff and equips them to better understand the thoughts and feelings behind their self-harm, which will be vital to their long-term recovery.
How this works out in practice will be interesting to see. i'm sure that, in some ways, it will only add to the workload of an often-strained NHS service ...but if it can be persevered with and worked out in its entirity, i can see only positive outcomes for the patients themselves..
Anyone else have any thoughts or different opinions on the matter? i'd be interested to hear.
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