Interacting with families and patients during times of illness

I had the opportunity to work in a couple of mental health facilities for my clinical placement. I had never worked in mental health before so was unsure what to expect. The first week focused on young adults who were mostly dealing with schizophrenia. In the second week I was placed in the adolescent mental health facility, where the majority of the patients were dealing with self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

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The main goal I had on placement was to build a rapport with the patients without passing judgement. I found this to be easier to achieve in the young adult ward as most of them were voluntary patients who were focused on getting better. I would communicate with them whilst they were doing activities they enjoyed such as colouring in or watching movies. In the adolescent ward most of the patients were under the Mental Health Act and did not want to be there. Getting them to open up was more of a challenge. However I did form a good rapport with a teenager who was suffering delusions from post-traumatic stress disorder. I feel this was because he was more open to the idea of recovery. We also came from a similar cultural background, so I was able to find common ground with him.

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By developing and extending on these relationships with the patients I was able to talk with them about their feelings and what their goals were. I was also able to meet the families and sit in on the tribunals to get a better understanding of the patient’s needs and if they were ready to go home and have the support from the community. In relation to communicating with adolescents, I could try different communication devices as Martin, Sutcliffe, Griffiths, Sturt, Powell, Adams & Dale (2011) suggest, making it easier for the mental health patients to open up to health professionals.