The Sanctuary.

This blog is written by someone who has the lived experiences of mental health distress and A&E care…..

She shares some great insights and some vision for how things could improve  (in larger communities)…. in this case urban UK.

I can’t help but transpose her experiences to rural Australia…..How could access to appropriate mental health help be provided to rural people in a way that is more supportive and less debilitative?

Our rural communities are small and our public and community resources our scant and A&E hospital departments are busy and a confronting place to attend for people in mental health distress…..

Our sense of looking after each other in the bush is strong…. we are cohesive, we volunteer quickly to help, we trust each other… and our social connections strengthen. Is there a way we can use this strength to improve the way we support people who are seeking shelter from mental health distress? What else can we do to enhance the spaces for refuge, sanctuary and recovery from mental health distress. How can we ensure we don’t make the distress worse….?

How can nurses improve the ways in which they care, listen and support people better…. can we take some further initiatives to support the people seeking our help? Do we have a responsibility to do better? I think  we have to keep forging new paths and ways towards recovery for our clients… they can’t always do it for themselves – that’s why we are there… to do it for them, help them to find a path that suits their needs, until they can do it for themselves……

… do for when they can’t do for themselves, do with  – helping people towards self-care again,  and keep doing with until the person can do for themselves – that is the nursing journey.

No answers today! Just questions….  looking for answers though!