Mental Health
Supporting young people with mental health needs is very challenging — not everybody has the skill and patience to navigate this level of care. This placement asked everything of our team, and they gave it.
The context
Members of our team were asked to support a young person through a very difficult period in a residential care home. The behaviours displayed on a daily basis were extremely challenging, and pushed our members to improve and adapt their approaches minute by minute. What never changed was the standard of care: empathetic, understanding and accepting of the young person throughout.
The challenges — and how we responded
- Smearing and throwing of faeces. The young person would defecate on the floor and smear on walls and bathroom furniture, and sometimes throw this towards staff. Our members responded with the utmost professionalism. Using our caring, therapeutic and nurturing approach, the behaviour was managed well — and as strong relationships formed, these occurrences reduced until the young person was using the toilet regularly.
- Spitting at staff. The young person would regularly spit at staff. Our members did not shy away, and kept the relationship intact regardless. Such was the benefit of that consistency that incidents of spitting almost stopped entirely.
- Personal hygiene. The young person had a poor understanding of personal hygiene. Our members worked tirelessly and selflessly to support them, and the improvement was huge.
The outcome
The daily challenges reduced greatly, and the change in the young person's quality of life was substantial. We are proud of the positive interactions our team had with this young person — and we are certain their outcome has improved, along with their chances of rehabilitation and of living well while managing their mental health.