Working with the Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Team has really shaped my life and passions within mental health nursing. I’ve worked with and seen so many young people experiencing psychosis for the first time and have been so privileged to be part of a team who help those young people, along with their families, to discover that there is a hope and a future, despite this really scary experience that can have so much stigma attached to it. It’s so inspiring, watching someone go from feeling extremely nervous and distrusting of themselves and others around them, to developing a new sense of confidence, supporting others, and moving on to succeed in their lives… so much so, that I have been inspired to take this specialist way of working to Zimbabwe - the place where I was born.
I went to Zimbabwe on my elective placement during my nursing course and worked with the Zimbabwe National Association of Mental Health (ZIMNAMH). I learnt how difficult it was to engage people in mental health services there - as well as how limited the services were due to lack of funding! There is a common traditional belief that mental health illnesses come about from witchcraft as a form of punishment for a wrongdoing - leading people experiencing mental health issues to be excluded from society and preventing people from wanting to seek help from the mainstream mental health services.
I had always wanted to return to Zimbabwe for a period of time. All of this combined with my particular interest in cultural care, has led me to embark on a project to pilot an EIP service in Harare, Zimbabwe from September 2016. I am going to be working with ZIMNAMH who are really keen to pursue this project along with me. ZIMNAMH has a wide network of mental health professionals and government leads in health and education in Zimbabwe which I am able to link in to, and we are currently applying for funding!
The support from Nottinghamshire Healthcare, and in particular EIP staff and the Behavioural Family Therapy team, has been a real encouragement and vital in planning this project, some of whom I will be maintaining links with and receiving supervision from throughout my year there!
I will be going to Zimbabwe with my husband, a Maths teacher, who will be developing a Maths curriculum for a charity school in Harare called ‘Crossover’. We are raising funds to support our year out there personally; if you would like to donate towards this please go to www.gofundme.com/palmersinzim and if you would like to find out more or be involved somehow, contact me on tammy.palmer@nottshc.nhs.uk
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