Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!Chapter 1 | 25A small handful of young people who had spenttime on an inpatient ward said how much theyvalued the rare opportunity to engage in a funand creative group run by an external voluntarysector organisation. This group encouraged youngpeople to look forward to engaging with voluntarycommunity-based services on their discharge frominpatient care. This also acted as a way of preparingyoung people for their return into the community.“[It was] a bit of fun because the inpatient unit wasreally intense and it’s nice to be able to go to agroup where you didn’t have to talk about issues andproblems, and just have a laugh.”Young personOpportunities to build friendshipswith peers“A nice break and escape and a distraction because itwas just so fun and you got to know the other youngpeople better.”Young personSome of the young people we spoke to suggestedthat it would be valuable for the mental healthservice to operate a ‘buddying’ scheme, wherebyyoung people with experience of using the mentalhealth system could support other young people andprovide advice and information. This would includeadvice on which services might meet their needs andhow to access them, as well as support with usingthese services. All young people said that being withother young people who had had similar experiencesand were on the road to recovery could be reassuring,inspiring and a positive encouragement for them towork on their own recovery.Being involved in various group activities can offerthe opportunity for the young people to makefriends with people of similar ages. Young peoplewho had had these opportunities valued beingable to socialise with their peers, because it helpedthem build a social network, which many individualshad previously lacked. Some young people saidgroup activities had helped them overcomevarious challenges in their lives. Many said they hadcontinued to socialise with peers from the groupsoutside of the service, and some had become theirclosest friends.