The work carried out by the Livilands Resource Centre in Stirling has been highlighted as a example of best practice in a new report produced by the Royal College of Nursing called ‘Parity of Esteem’ – Delivering physical health equality for those with serious mental health needs.
The report describes the range of services the Centre provides for a “forgotten and vulnerable group” including physical health monitoring, increased physical activity, education regarding diet, exercise, smoking and misuse of alcohol and substances. It also outlines the work undertaken with younger people, looking at employability and meaningful activity.
Heather Tainsh, Senior Charge Nurse at Livilands Resource Centre, says that the success of the service is due to the “Enthusiasm and passion of the staff and the commitment and participation from service users. She explained: “This vulnerable group of patients can be difficult to engage in and sustain meaningful activity however this is not an issue at Livilands as we actually have issues with groups being full and people who are keen to participate.”
In terms of outcomes, Heather said: “We are measuring a few areas such as weight-loss,numbers of patients receiving physical health monitoring, attendance at clinics and activities and overall patient experience. We are also developing a new cardiology pathway.”
You can read the full report on the RCN website www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-007618.
