Case management: Occupational therapist Marjolein Cleaver.
Our occupational therapists are now involved in offering a rare but important perspective on insurance case management
The psychological injuries people experience following accidents can last long after the physical ones are finally patched-up.
Wellbeing Therapy Solutions can offer a rare perspective on that recovery with occupational therapy support now available to add to traditional methods that have been used for years.
Case management services is something we have just started to offer and we are excited to begin working with some of the highest profile insurance case management companies.
Case management supports people who have experienced an accident, injury or other trauma and WTS will provide occupational therapy assessment and intervention for people who are experiencing psychological challenges arising from that event.
Mental health assessment
Our experienced therapists can offer a functional mental health assessment to look at how somebody’s mental health is impacting on their day-to-day life following that accident, life event or experience.
We do this in a kind, compassionate and sensitive way and can work all over the UK.
Our job is to meet the mental health needs of any client and to support them in improving their mental health and nurturing and protecting it moving forward.
We will also help them to overcome any barriers that are stopping them live their life in a way they want to do.
Case management
Because all of our WTS team are qualified to deal with individual case management services, we have immediate availability and have already started working with some leading companies.
We are looking forward to building relationships with more case management companies and will be offering a timely and personalised service that meets the needs of people who, perhaps otherwise, wouldn’t get the mental health support they need.
As a service, it’s quite unusual to offer occupational therapist services specifically for the mental health aspect of case management. It’s an emerging area of practice so we are really proud to be able to pick up those needs and support people in a way that maybe hasn’t been so readily available before.
Occupational Therapist Marjolein Cleaver has been working on one such case.
She explained: “I have working with a client, through case management, who has complex PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). They really felt that their roles in life both personally and professionally have been challenged after what happened to them.
Complex PTSD
“I have helped them look at their goals because they found it so painful to set new ones and were struggling to move forward. So, we gently explored goals first and then gently helped them work towards these goals.
“It’s about empowering the client to make decisions for themselves. It can feel very overwhelming for people with PTSD so we are trying to rebuild that lost confidence. We are trying to get out of the house, which is a big hurdle to overcome, going out and about in the local community and going to places they have not been for a while.
“They have also chosen a meaningful activity to focus on and that has been craft activities which will hopefully boost their mood.
“Wellbeing Therapy Solutions will then liaise back with the case management company and a few more things have been added in from the company because of the relationship I have built with them.
“We deal with the case in a hollistic way and don’t just focus on one thing. PTSD covers so many areas of our life which is not only related to mental health but also physical and motivational, as well as the ability to go places and do things.”
* Get in touch to find out more about Wellbeing Therapy Solutions case management offer.
Almost two million small business owners in the UK may be facing mental health issues after the effect that Covid lockdowns had on their business.
Close to 2 million small business owners in the UK may have seen their mental health decline in the wake of Covid.
That is an astonishing number of people but, from the work we have been doing at Wellbeing Therapy Solutions over the past 18 months, I am hardly surprised.
That figure has been reached following a report put together by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) who conducted a survey of 1,000 business owners. It found that a third (34%) said their mental health had declined as a result of the pandemic.
If those percentages are applied to the Government figures which state there are 5.5 million small business owners in the UK, there would be 1.8M of those who have seen their mental health suffer during the Covid19 outbreak.
Looking back at what we had to endure as a country, it’s no surprise that people suffered when trying to run a business.
Lockdowns
Lockdowns and uncertainties were commonplace and that was far from an ideal foundation to conduct business from.
The FSB report also highlighted a ‘late payment culture’ which became prevalent and hung around for far too long afterwards.
Speaking with friends as the restrictions of the pandemic died down, many in full-time employment were grateful of the apparent security blanket of furlough or a guaranteed wage while working for a big company or in the public sector.
But it was a different case for owners of small businesses who had no idea what was coming next and no idea when their next pay day was coming from as much of industry and the economy ground to a halt.
Mental health conditions
Then, when things picked up again, subsequent lockdowns made day-to-day operations extremely hard to manage and plan for.
One in four in the FSB survey reported that they still, to this day, have a mental health condition such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress and very few have said they managed to take advantage of workplace health support offered by the Government.
They were also managing members of staff who were off with Covid19. While that may have been an easier hit to take for companies with hundreds of employees, you can imagine the effect it may have had on businesses with only a handful of employees.
Figures suggest that 400,000 small businesses are still under threat because of the hit they took during the pandemic.
Business owners
Yet while business owners have clearly had it tough during the past two years, those that have managed to get through that spell and remain in business will have built up plenty of resilience as individuals and as company owners.
They may also have been forced to innovate and find ways to develop their business or move it in directions they were not expecting. These could have made the business more agile and less likely to fall victim to any future unexpected scenarios, heaven forbid.
Wellbeing Therapy Solutions have a range of services to help both individuals, groups and workplaces if they would like to learn more about mental health and techniques to build up resilience against the many challenges life can throw at us.
OT Lindsey Mitchell offers help to people with autism who are also experiencing mental health difficulties and struggling to define their ‘normal’
Autism is a developmental condition that affects thousands of people but is often misunderstood by many thousands more.
It is a condition that also provides challenges for people that have it on a daily basis and one of their biggest challenges can be deciding what are ‘normal’ feelings.
Being able to judge this is extremely important if they are struggling with their mental health.
So, during Mental Health Awareness Week, I thought it would be useful to promote some good resources that can offer support to autistic people (and non-autistic too) about how better to understand their personal mental health situation.
Autism
Autism is a developmental condition that affects how you see the world and how you interact with other people. Autistic people can experience changes in their mental health like anyone else.
Recent research by the National Autistic Society highlighted that 80% of young people with autism had experienced mental health problems with many young people feeling that these problems stemmed from the pressure to ‘act normal’ in a neurotypical (non-autistic) world.
Many of the young people found it hard to tell whether changes in their thoughts, feelings and behaviours, might be a sign of a mental health problem. This stemmed from a constant struggle to know just what is ‘normal’ for them and a resulting challenge trying to work out if, and when, they needed to seek professional help.
Toolkit
Ambitious About Autism (follow on Twitter at @ambitiousaboutautism) volunteers have developed a toolkit for young autistic (and non-autistic) people that aims to address just this issue.
This free resource helps young people describe what ‘normal’ is for them, such as how often they sleep and how much time they spend on their hobbies.
Not only does this help them to identify if, and how, their ‘normal’ might change – so they can work out when they might need to get extra help – it can also be used to help them explain this to other people such as family members or healthcare professionals.
Loneliness is the theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the Wellbeing Therapy solutions team will be offering lots of support
The theme of this week’s Mental Health Awareness Week (May 9-15) is ‘loneliness’ so MD Kate Jackson offers some tips on how to combat a feeling that gets to many of us over time.
Loneliness is something that can affect us all, across our whole life span and at any stage of our lives.
Whether you live somewhere that is really busy or a more rural place, whether you live on your own or you live with other people, you can still feel isolated and lonely sometimes. Many of us have done.
It’s not about blaming yourself for that, it’s about finding out what might be going on and looking for ways to make you feel better.
Loneliness
Loneliness can be triggered by all sorts of things. Life events, changing situations or maybe nothing significant at all.
We can all experience feeling lonely in lots of different ways which means there are lots of different ways in which we can overcome that feeling.
It’s important to remember that loneliness, or indeed any difficult feeling, can pass and they can be temporary feelings.
But it can be really hard for people to admit that they are lonely. Some people feel embarrassed or guilty about it while others are more open to talking about it.
Mental Health Awareness Week
It’s something for us all to be aware of and to be aware of how much it can impact people when they don’t even know it is going on.
There are plenty of actions we can take to help lift somebody who may be feeling lonely and we are going to talk about lots of those different ways across our social media platforms during Mental Health Awareness Week, which this year runs from May 9 to 15.
We will be giving tips on reaching out to somebody who you think might be feeling lonely but also ideas on how to combat loneliness if you are experiencing it yourself.
A warm welcome to the new team at Wellbeing Therapy Solutions
With the expanded Wellbeing Therapy Solutions team now fully operational at our new premises on the outskirts of Leicester, we have put together a video so you can meet them all and hear a little bit about their background and what they do.
MD Kate Jackson introduces her team of occupational therapists which aims to provide theraputic services in the right timeframe, without a long delay or waiting list.
Marjolein Cleaver is an OT with a background in youth work and different community groups in schools.
“I love working with young people and helping them with their mental health and their sense of identity,” says Marjolein.
Mental Health
Rebecca Woods is an OT who has worked with young people and university students supporting their mental health.
“I have also worked with adults of all ages helping empower people and develop strategies for their wellbeing,” adds Rebecca
Lindsey Mitchell is an OT who has worked with special schools and mainstream schools too.
“I have worked with children who have a diagnosis of autism or who are undiagnosed but show these traits or show issues with their sensory needs,” she says.
Eating disorders
Beth Gardiner is an OT who has worked in the NHS for 15 years.
“I have worked with adults who have eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia, I have worked for a refugee wellbeing service, done a stint in pediatrics as well as forensic mental health,” says Beth.
Clare Pinchess does not feature in the video but is very much a part of the new team.
Kate added: “We wanted to assemble a team who could offer support and therapy to individuals and families who were experiencing difficulties.
“As we all know, it can be difficult for people to access therapeutic services in a timely manner since the Covid-19 pandemic. We provide one-to-one services as well as group work and workshops to help people develop their mental health and wellbeing.”
