Philip’s* history

Philip is a likeable young man who has a diagnosis of Schizo-affective disorder and has a mild learning disability. He had traumatic experiences in his early life and was removed from his home as a child. He attended various residential schools until his behaviours became too challenging to manage in those settings. Due to his presenting challenges, he was consequently detained and moved to various mental health services including a medium secure unit, where his challenges continued for a number of years.

After working with a structured routine and having medication reviews, he was finally ready to be discharged to live in the community. However, once living in the community, Philip struggled with loneliness and lack of structure and unfortunately, he was not able to maintain his tenancy. He was re-admitted to hospital where he was then assessed as being more suited to residential living.

When Philip came to us

When Philip came to live at Ranaich House in early 2019, he would rarely come out of his bedroom and on the occasions when he did, he was subdued and quiet. His anxiety was at such a level that he was fearful of everyday situations such as strong winds, bright sunshine, high bridges, etc. This made it very difficult for Philip to access the wider community and participate in ordinary everyday activities.

Visits with his family were often quite short due to his heightened anxiety lasting only up to one hour at a time. Philip was very quiet and would never assert his needs or express how he was feeling.

Philip’s care

It took time for staff to get to know Philip, and once they had gained his trust and built a rapport, Philip was able to speak about past hurts, the staff helped him to process these emotions with a lot of 1-1 work. Staff also supported Philip by mediating his relationship with his family.

The team at Ranaich House have helped him with accessing the community through gradual exposure to local facilities, as well as route planning and shadowing.

In addition, they have supported him to develop his budgeting skills as well as help him with practical skills such as writing lists and following a recipe, which has helped to build his confidence.

Philip today

Philip is now able to access the local town independently, going for walks to the local gym, swimming pool, cafè for drinks as well as visiting and borrowing items from the library. He is also now able to make his own food and sauces from scratch, with staff support.

Philip has developed more confidence and is now able to approach staff to assert his needs and speak about things that might be bothering him.

Things are going really well for Philip. He now speaks to his family daily and before the Covid-19 lockdown, was visiting them for up to three hours each week.

Philip is ready for the next chapter in his life. Before the lockdown, Philip had started transition to his new tenancy where he was to have 6 hours daily supported living. He is also waiting to join a Life Skills course at his local college. He has been very patient and philosophical about this delay and is waiting, like the rest of us for lockdown to end so he can move on with his life.

*Name has been changed to protect his identity