Recovery is about a personal journey towards a meaningful and satisfying life, living as well as possible, whatever symptoms or difficulties are present. But, what if you could run your own healthcare plan? Well, CNWL – Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust - teaches people to do just that. It runs a Recovery College, which provides the tools to make this happen and to help you become an expert in your own recovery; managing your physical and mental health conditions or that of someone you care for.
In the last three years, the College has grown to such an extent that it now offers 90 different courses. Every course and workshop is co-designed and co-run by trainers who have experienced mental health or other difficulties, working alongside professionals. 3,000 people have been on courses in the last two years, nearly 1,200 from Brent alone.
In Brent, the Recovery College, in partnership with The Kilburn Park Medical Centre, set up the Healthy Living in Practice Project, with Dr Tamara Joffe leading the way. The aim of the Project was to see if the patients could have better outcomes if they took greater control over their wellbeing and at the same time free up GP time. This was put to the test last year.
As always, the best way to kick-start any new project is to talk to the patients and Tamara’s team did just that. About 120 patients took part in the trial and spoke about health issues that made them see their GPs. These included disabling pain, anxiety, depression, stress and sleeping better etc.
What they did then was to set up 23 courses for the patients to tackle these health issues. The courses were run jointly with other experienced patients. Of 120 patients, 76 took part in the trial. A record of each patient’s thoughts about their health issues before and after the course was kept. These records revealed that the patients generally felt positive about themselves.
However, did the patients need to see their GPs less? Well, overall clinical contacts for the patients fell and more importantly they felt better about their health. Learning together in a safe environment with excellent peer trainers and expert practitioners allowed them to share problems and solutions about conditions that were dominating their lives. There was a new community spirit and trust that the trainers brought, which allowed the patients to share experiences and also have fun! The GPs, as a result, had more time for other patients.
Tamara’s team has now started another project to see if they can have the same effect for weight loss, reducing blood pressure and managing diabetes.
Recovery College is a good use of NHS resources and good for patients’ health and wellbeing.
It puts patients’ recovery back in their control and provides hope, choice and learning opportunities to develop self-help and self-management skills, and explore vocational and personal development.
