North Dublin Befriending Project
Country
Ireland
Description
The North Dublin Befriending Project is a voluntary service available to people who have or have had a mental health problem. The project is a one-to-one befriending project focussing on the person's particular needs, goals and potential and assists the person to re-integrate into their community.
A trained volunteer (a befriender) is matched with a person with a mental health problem (a befriendee) with similar interests and /or life experience for a social relationship which is monitored and supported by the project co-ordinators. The project brings people together for a positive, supportive relationship to help reduce the social isolation often felt by those experiencing a mental health problem and to empower those using the mental health services to reintegrate into their community.
With the help of the befriender, the befriendee will be encouraged to access training and education and build social networks minimising the negative impact of social exclusion.
Befriendees have been referred by the community mental health teams and their own General Practitioners. All befriendees are long-term users of the mental health services and have expressed feelings of isolation as a consequence of their long-term mental health problems. The age range is between 20 and 60 years of age.
Aims
The North Dublin Befriending Project aims to:
- support the befriendee to identify and achieve their own personal goals (e.g. using public transport, socialising etc.),
- provide an opportunity for the befriendee to participate in interests and hobbies,
- support the befriendee to access community resources such as training and education.
Areas
Education, Training
Effectiveness
The project addresses the social inclusion and re-integration of those with mental health difficulties into the community through an informal supportive social network. By identifying their own interests to pursue, participation is giving a voice to the befriendee and respecting their choices. The project aims to support the befriendee in their efforts to re-integrate into their community, giving them support to try new activities such as sports, leisure, training and educational courses. The project has a voluntary advisory committee of eight members and two project co-ordinators who work seventeen hours a week.
Sustainability
On-going consultation and feedback from the participants indicate that the impact of the Befriending project is significant in encouraging participation in regular social activities.
The project is easy to access and implement and is relatively inexpensive. The only financial outlet is for expenses incurred by the volunteer as well as the running costs of the project. Funding for the project was sourced through the Dormant Account Fund (Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs) by Mental Health Ireland. Volunteers are trained in listening and communication skills, boundaries and health and safety policies as well as information on mental health issues. On-going training is provided to the volunteers.
The project has links with the mental health services as well as the local mental health associations (NGOs) in the North Dublin area.
Innovation
Those who are or who have experienced mental health problems may find themselves isolated with limited possibilities to interact with the community around them. Participation in initiatives, such as the Befriending project, with the support of trained volunteers is innovative in motivating, supporting and empowering the participants to identify their own needs, make their own choices and maximise the potential to achieve their own identified goals.
Added Value
The project's activities, methodologies and outcomes make a significant contribution with regard to existing practices and policies in the area of social inclusion emphasising the underlying principles of choice, participation, equality and respect.
In the recent Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy, "Vision for Change" a holistic view of mental illness is proposed and an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to addressing the biological, psychological and social factors which contribute to mental health problems is recommended. The Report proposes a person-centred treatment approach which addresses each of these elements through an integrated care plan, reflecting best practice, which has been developed and agreed with service users and their carers.
The Report states that interventions should be aimed at maximising recovery from mental health problems and build on the resources within the service user's immediate social networks to allow them to achieve meaningful integration and participation in community life.
The befriending service is an opportunity for the person to socialise outside of a medicalised environment and as well as meeting the individuals needs, is also supporting the principles for change as recommended in the policy document a "Vision for Change".
Transferability
The practices and procedures as developed are potentially transferable to other communities as they are flexible and adaptable to facilitating the ethos of empowerment. There are several befriending services in Ireland, in rural and urban communities, and although very different in approach, all share the same aims and objectives of social integration and interaction for people with a mental health problem. The differences will depend on the area and the resources available to the project.
The befriending project is a very practical and simple one which trains volunteers to support befriendees who are, or have been, users of the mental health services to re-integrate socially into their communities.
Mainstreaming Potential
The social context of mental illness has often been overlooked with the result that very little help has been offered to individuals in terms of managing and negotiating their needs "back into the community". One consequence of this shortcoming in support has been a high rate of relapse and readmission. Over 70% of all admissions to a psychiatric hospital are re-admissions.
In mainstreaming the project caution would be expressed in ensuring the volunteers do not displace paid employees.
Costs of the Project
The Befriending Project is run by two part-time Co-ordinators, each working 17 hours per week. Their job is to recruit, train, match, monitor and support befrienders and also to match, monitor and support befriendees. The co-ordinators are responsible for fundraising, training, and administration of the project.
The cost of the project over two years was 98,000 euro of which 70,000 was salaries for the two co-ordinators.
People involved in the Project (number of people and profession)
There are two part-time Co-ordinators and there are 34 trained volunteers
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Strengths and Weaknesses of the Project
The strengths of the project include:
- the empowerment of the befriendee to achieve their own personal goals;
- the involvement of volunteers in supporting members of their community;
- the reduction of social exclusion.
The weakness of the project is predominantly resources as the project relies heavily on volunteer involvement for sustainability and current funding is not guaranteed.
Contact Person for the Project
Ann Devoy Kelly &Katy Hoban,Co-ordinators
North Dublin Befriending
'Goirtin'
224 North Circular Road
Dublin 7
Ireland
+353 1 838 71 84