Emotional support in your language

Self-Care is an approach to health and wellbeing which helps you to keep yourself well. The Community Living Well self-care programme helps people to take more control of their mental health and physical wellbeing, and to build social contact access to community, leisure, education, arts and volunteering opportunities. There is a range of different Self-Care services that can be accessed through Community Living Well.

One-to-one emotional support in your language

One of the self-care services run by the BME Health Forum is one-to-one emotional wellbeing and support in languages such as Arabic, Farsi, French and Somali. They provide emotional support and help with practical problems, including help to access other services.

Alex used this service in his time of need. This is his story…

Spiralling out of control

After his divorce, Alex (around 50 years of age) felt isolated, low in mood, and started ignoring letters sent to his address. His health and wellbeing were spiralling out of control and his only relative, his sister, had not made any contact for more than seven years.

Finding the courage

He found out about the Community Living Well programme through someone who attends his local Mosque and was encouraged with the level of support they received. Alex managed to get the courage to attend.

He attended sessions to get support with his on-going challenges such as arrears and housing situation. Due to his ill mental health, he had failed to realise that his rent arrears were now getting out of hand and he was at risk of being evicted – he did not know where to go or what to do.

Comfort and support

Our staff provided comfort and support to Alex when he attended his first session, as he was restless while the matter was still unresolved. Our adviser contacted Alex’s local housing office on his behalf, arranged extra time and set up a repayment agreement, making it easier for Alex to manage his debt.

At Alex’s meetings, he and the adviser set realistic goals for him to work towards, including sorting any mail he received so he felt more organised.

Making progress

Alex made good progress at his fortnightly meetings. He reached his goals and kept up with his repayment agreement. He was more engaged and started to set more goals that he could work towards.

Alex described how the service was instrumental in helping him make progress:

“I couldn’t praise them enough. With my problem, I do not meet people regularly as sometimes they are not so understanding or interested in what I say. I had to hide my difficulties and thought my problem would disappear, but it got worse. So, I turn up at this place, tell these people I need help at first meeting and felt a sense of relief as there is a young man (project leader) who is just so calm and caring, saying ‘anything you need, don’t worry.’”

HOW TO REGISTER

To refer yourself to the Self-Care programme, please fill out this online form or call us on 020 3317 4200.

This article was originally published in the Autumn/Winter 2020 edition of Community Living Well magazine. To subscribe to receive the magazine, complete this form. 

Author: Stewart Gillespie
Posted on: 24th February 2021