STR - Support Time Recovery - Activity 1.4 - Carers

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STR / Support Time Recovery Training course

VRQ Level 2 Certificate in Mental Health

Answer to Question 1

They have the right to be treated as equally important, if that is what the service user wants.

If a man if in hospital and wants his wife to be present during a meeting with his doctor then that is normally no problem.

The same if a woman wants her husband there.

If a man wanted his boyfriend or a woman wanted her girlfriend there then that used to be very different, places are becoming better, but I have still heard horror stories recently of same sex partners not being treated the same as heterosexual ones.

If a service user is deaf then they might be able to get a BSL translator to attend a meeting with a doctor, but would be as happy to provide one if it was the partner that was deaf? Yes the service user would probably be able to translate it for them, but if you are in a meeting talking about traumatic things then the last things you would want to do is translate it.

Answer to Question 2

The right to have support for themselves. Most people seem to forget that carers need a lot of support too, especially if those carers are children. Caring can be a twenty-four hour, seven days a week job that can be very hard work, both physically and mentally for very little reward. If a service user says they had a bad night and did not sleep due to having a panic attack all night, most people would feel sorry for that service user, but I wonder how many even think about the fact that their carer may have been up all night with them, maybe after a long day at work or school. It's very important that these people get support or before long they will probably have more health problems than the people they care for.

If you break a leg you get taken into hospital straight away, they repair the damage, they don't let you out until you are able to cope, they give you crutches or anything else you need and even when you do leave you have lots of outpatient appointments etc. to check you are ok. When you have a mental break, first you sometimes have to fight to get into hospital, then all they mostly do is drug you up for a few days before sending you home with very little support apart from your family and friends, most of which do not have any understanding of mental health and may even choose to avoid the "nutter", leaving it up to just a few or even just one person to support you with no support for themselves.

Ultimately they also have the right to choose to have a life. Not everybody can leave jobs, school etc. to care for somebody full time, but they feel they have no choice because if they don't do it, nobody else will.

Next: STR Activity 1.5 - Your Organisation's Values
Previous: STR Activity 1.3 - Promoting Rights

Please note: The contents of the Level 2 Certificate in Mental Health Students workbook are copyrighted, so I have not included any of the questions, purely my answers which are only copyrighted to me! If you have access to the workbook it will make a lot more sense to you. Please do NOT copy my answers and use them as your own, I have just put them here to give you ideas for any parts you may be stuck on.