Womens Perspective

1
Womens Perspective

• Chris Dibble and Jane Luck, Victoria Park Centre

2
The Victoria Park Centre Daisy Bank who we are?

• Emphasis on Physical health and well being
• Severe and enduring mental illness
• Social inclusion and recovery
• Group and one to one work

3
SHI Group at Daisy Bank

• Open to all women
• Varied educational, cultural and ethnic
  backgrounds
• Range of mental health needs
• Range of capacity to communicate their needs

4
The work of the SHI group at Daisy Bank

• Providing a safe environment
• Giving women the tools and knowledge
• Facilitating communication
• Linking physical and mental health
• Understanding when to consult GP
• We talk a lot about sex and have a laugh

5
How do we do it?

• We talk about sex and our bodies
• Practical exercises - pelvic floor
• Lumpy boobs model
• Healthy eating sessions
• Sharing experiences
• Physical exercises
• Laugh
• Laugh
• Laugh

6
What are womens concerns?

• Weight gain
• Low Energy
• Blood Pressure and cholesterol
• Periods
• Rashes and itchy bits
• Women of a certain age
• Breasts
• Cancers
• Bones
• Medication and how it affects womens bits

7
Identified needs

• Not just a diet advice, information, options,
  support
• Health check ups
• Cardiovascular screening cholesterol, BP,
  glucose
• Cancer Screening Breast, cervical,
• Sharing information and experiences

8
Obstacles for individual

• Fears
• Environment (clinics, GPs, getting there)
• What youll find out
• Not understanding what the doctor says
• Knowledge about physical health / needs
• Lack of information
• Impact of mental illness in their lives

9
Obstacles within services

• Access place, time
• Negotiating the appointments system
• Keeping appointments
• Personnel
• Contact focussed on mental health
• Communication
• Continuity
• Building trust

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Solutions

• Supported access
• Greater variety of access
• Partnership working
• Improving Knowledge
• Improving Confidence
• Better communication
• Understanding the clients fears

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Solutions (II)

• Time and place
• Focussed attention on physical health
• Creative approaches
• Individual approaches
• Repetition repetition repetition
• Knowledge knowledge knowledge
• Information information information
• An opportunity to share

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How to deliver it

• Again and again and again.
• In many different ways
• In groups
• As one to one

13
Female reproductive system