The event was jointly chaired by Dr Robert Kehoe, Cygnet Health Care’s Responsible Officer and Michael Humes, Patient Reviewer, RCPSYCH and hosted by Cygnet Hospital Woking.
The audience enjoyed presentations from a range of speakers exploring diverse topics and perspectives as well as hearing about the recovery journey of past and present service users at Cygnet Hospital Woking and Cygnet Lodge Woking.
Presentations were opened on the subject of “The Model of Creativity” by Louise Jeffries from the Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability Foundation. This was followed by a talk on ‘Implementing Recovery Through Organisational Change and Patient Co-Production Strategies’ by Dr Julie Repper, Director of ImROC.
“Peer support can change the lives of people supported.”Dr Julie Repper, Director of ImROC
After a break the conference then heard from Nutritional Therapist Deborah Colson. Her presentation, ‘Nutritional Influences on Mental Health – What’s the Evidence?’ provided delegates with plenty of food for thought about the impact certain food types can have both positively and negatively on an individual’s mental health. Quite aptly this presentation was followed by a tasty lunch provided by the conference staff at the Royal College.
After lunch the next presentation was from Dr Fiona Gaughran, Director of Research and Development, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Gaughran’s talk was full of rich data on the differences in physical health between people with schizophrenia and the general population.
Dr Gaughran’s presentation was followed by an engaging talk from Dr Jennifer Bamford, Forensic Psychologist who gave an overview of the recovery pathway at Cygnet Lodge Woking. The conference concluded on an uplifting note as the conference heard about the personal recovery journeys of two service users, Mena and Rudolph.
“In order to have a revolution we need to get the foundations right.”Dr Jennifer Bamford, Forensic Psychologist, Cygnet Lodge Woking
Feedback
Feedback from the conference was excellent, below is a selection of comments received from delegates:
“I have been immensely impressed by the case of the services users. Has certainly offered me new perspectives on my own approach and practice.”
“Dr Repper was excellent. Excellent venue. Dr Bamford was an amazing speaker! Rudolph and Mena were the highlight of the day! Inspirational!!”
“Very informative day with a wide range of speakers. Well planned and organised. Always an honour to hear from service users and their experience.”
“I was particularly inspired by the experts by experience and their open and honest way they told their stories about their recovery.”
“Venue was easily located and well presented. Presentations were very insightful and made me reflect on practice and client group.”
The event was the latest in a series held by Cygnet throughout the year. Our next event, ‘Stigma In Mental Health: The role stigma plays and strategies for positive change‘ is being held on 9 May 2017 in Leeds.