Dr Clare Byrne is a specialist psychologist working within the Belfast Trust’s Learning Disability Service. Clare had been learning about evidence-based and scientifically proven approaches to promote wellbeing and combat the effects of stress and trauma.
She had observed that carers within Learning Disability Services are under a significant amount of pressure due to their circumstances and caring responsibility. So adopting the Mind-Body Skills programme for carers within Learning Disability services was then explored.
Aim
- Clare hoped to share knowledge of the Mind-Body Skills programme, develop it to ensure it met carers needs and deliver it to those that most need it.
Objectives
- The aim was to work with carers to identify if the tools offered in the mind and body skills programme would be beneficial to them.
- Consider what would be the most effective way to offer the sessions to ensure that it met carer’s needs and they gained as much as possible.
- To gather feedback from carer’s experiences going through the programme, to inform future developments.
- Gather evidence to see if this programme was effective for carers, ensuring it was worth the service investing time for this specific programme.”
Carers were invited to take part in a pilot programme, and their input was sought on how best this might be delivered. Carers advised that they would prefer to meet in-person than online, and those involved at this stage preferred to meet on weekday mornings.
6 carers volunteered to engage in 8 sessions of “Mind-Body Skills for Wellbeing” and meet once per week. They helped to identify the skills they felt were most relevant to them.
Each session covered specific Mind-Body Skills, which included:
- Meditation, guided Imagery, relaxation training and biofeedback.
- Breathing – breath awareness and regulation.
- Movement – to release stress and increase energy.
- Self-expression – through words, writing and drawing.
The carers agreed to complete an evaluation and provide feedback following each session to inform and influence the design, delivery and practical elements of the sessions and how they are offered.
The involvement of carers provided the opportunity for the programme to be adapted to ensure that carers could engage effectively and get the most benefit out of the programme. It was recognised that carers have limited time and space to engage and if they were to invest in this programme it had to be worthwhile.
Carers input also created the evidence to offer this programme to other carers throughout the service, as it demonstrated how effective the programme was in supporting their mental health and emotional wellbeing during stressful periods.
As well as giving feedback before, during and after the programme, participants also completed measures of wellbeing, depression, anxiety and stress for a more objective evaluation of the outcomes.
As a result of their input, the programme was extended from 8 to 9 sessions, in order to cover the most relevant skills. A 10th “reunion” session was also held approximately 6 weeks after the programme ended.”
Following the completion of the programme the results included:
- Through questionnaires completed prior to the sessions, the data indicated that on average as a group, their wellbeing scores are very low compared to the general population; and their Depression, Anxiety and Stress scores are relatively high compared to the general population.
- Key aspects that were adjusted by the group included the length of the programme, the content that is covered within the sessions and the venues that were chosen to facilitate the sessions.
- Formation of occasional drop-in sessions for people who have completed the programme to sustain an increased wellbeing.
- Identification of barriers to carers being able to participate
- Carers provided qualitative evidence of how valuable they found and 100% would recommend the programme to other carers.
- Provision of additional programmes that were offered to carers within the service.
Since the conclusion of this pilot, four more wellbeing groups have been delivered with carers. Data gathered so far, including from the pilot group, suggest the following effects:
- Decrease in depression / anxiety / stress scores after the group, which are sustained at 6 week follow-up.
- Increase in wellbeing by the carers who participated, but this effect not sustained 6 weeks later.
This data also evidences the high level of need amongst carers for meaningful and effective support for wellbeing.
