Joe has been living at Cygnet Brunel for about two years. When Joe first arrived at Cygnet Brunel it was with a diagnosis of Frontotemporal dementia. The psychiatrist team found this did not match clinical symptoms and six months later, Joe was diagnosed with a rare and severe form of treatment resistant schizophrenia.
A plan was put in place by the multi-disciplinary team that involved new medication, involvement in a range of groups, as well as musical and creative activities. Nurses and support workers worked hard to encourage Joe to improve his personal care. De-escalation techniques were also used to support Joe to feel safe and secure living at Brunel.
Whilst Joe’s family do not live close by his mum and sister were able to visit Cygnet Brunel to see Joe and take him to the local café on a monthly basis. It has taken 18 months of intensive rehabilitation to bring Joe to a place where the risk of over stimulation was low enough to facilitate a home visit to see his sister.
The trip went extremely well. Joe was able to have lunch in the garden, to feed the chickens, and pat the dogs. He even had a haircut from his sister to remove his sideburns! She said “It was a relaxed and pretty chilled afternoon”. The family hope that next time, Joe’s Mum can join them. On his return to Cygnet Brunel, Joe talked about the animals and eating a sandwich, and that he would like to go fishing with his brother-in-law in the future.
Joe’s sister said, “It has been so frustrating over the years on how he has been written off and passed from one care home to another when each one had given up on him when things were difficult with his behaviour. The frequent moves were very distressing and left us all feeling helpless.
“Everyone at Cygnet Brunel has cared about Joe and tried to get to the bottom of what’s happening and get him to the place he is currently. He has started to talk about other things and on his visit to my home it was lovely to see him so relaxed and just enjoying his surroundings. He’s smiling more which we love so much to see.
“It seems that this year has been a big turning point and he’s making so much progress.”
This was an amazing achievement and bodes well as Joe continues along his rehabilitation pathway.
*Name has been changed to protect Joe’s identity