Aphasia Awareness Month: Pursuing a new normality

In 2015 we shared Peter’s story. Peter was 61 when two strokes within four days left him with aphasia, a condition that affects the brain and leads to problems using language.

After his stroke, Peter didn’t speak for almost two years. Today, five years later, he now uses some speech alongside other strategies.

As part of Aphasia Awareness Month throughout June, we caught up with Peter and his wife, Carol, to find out how they live with aphasia.

Mental health nurses: “Without them, I don’t believe I would still be alive”

Joy Biddell wanted to share her story and say thank you to the nurses who made a huge difference to her recovery.

Since a young age I have struggled with my mental health. The first contact I had with services was with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) during my teens and this was for OCD. I had struggled with OCD for many years, however I didn’t reach out for help until I was 16.

Cakes which make a difference

Mental Health Nurse Maria Ditch bakes cakes which make a difference. Here she tells us the story behind her latest design, and why she wants to use cake to raise awareness of mental health issues.

All of my professional life I’ve been passionate about mental health. Since 1985, I’ve worked as a Registered Mental Nurse at Rampton Hospital - one of only three high secure hospitals in the country.

Former patient returns to hospital as an employee

A former patient of the Trust’s medium secure unit in Rotherham, Wathwood Hospital, has returned six years later as an employee.

Andy Reynolds spent five years as a patient at Wathwood and is now working in the Courtyard Café and Farm Shop in the Hospital grounds.

While at the Hospital Andy was part of the successful ‘Wathwood Hospital in the Community’ project which involved patients and staff working together with members of the public to help improve the local area, for example through providing gardening services.  Since leaving the Hospital Andy has kept busy involving himself with countryside activities and poultry rearing which will come in handy in his new role.   Here he tells his story…

David's story: my struggle with alcohol

David had always enjoyed the occasional beer however, as his drinking steadily worsened during a difficult few years, it took its toll on his health. After a stay in hospital, he found himself supported by the Trust’s Alcohol Related Long Term Conditions Team and is now firmly on the road to recovery.

Almost a year on, David, 45, is sharing his story to encourage others who are struggling with alcohol to access the help that is available.

An update on Tammy’s work in Zimbabwe

From left: Denford Gudyanga, Case Manager; Tendai Mayuni, Programmes Officer, M&E; Charity Shonai, Case Manager; Tammy Palmer and Mlambo Nefasi, Case Manager

In July we heard from Community Psychiatric Nurse Tammy Palmer, who was planning to travel to Zimbabwe to help spread the success of the Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) model of care. Here’s her first update.

I am now three months into my year-long career break, during which I’m supporting work to introduce the EIP model through the Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health (ZIMNAMH), a non-governmental organisation that advocates for the rights of people with mental health problems.

International Volunteer Day

5 December is International Volunteer Day. One of our volunteers, Thomas, has written his volunteering story.

How I volunteer

I am now an established volunteer for Nottingham Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, with all of my work based at their offices at Duncan Macmillan House on Portchester Road.

With well-established skills in software development, and more recently, qualifications and skills in website related development, my main area of volunteering is in developing a more dynamic front end to a website used for managing and reporting on the feedback of patients on the services which they have received from the NHS. More specifically, I will be replacing graphical information presented as a static picture with graphics generated dynamically from information in a database.

With experience of being on the autistic spectrum, I also volunteer for Story Shop afternoons. On such afternoons, a number of us travel to a venue (a local teaching hospital, the offices of the local authority, or a public library) to give an account of our health related experiences to successive groups of medical students, local authority employees, or interested members of the public. On such afternoons, I talk about my experiences of being on the autistic spectrum.