Regional case studies

Partnership working with Barnsley Public Libraries including; Working in proactive and productive partnership with the staff of Barnsley Public Libraries (BPL) on several projects.

Input from BHNFT Learning Resource Centre (LRC) includes:

• a health information guide for use in the branch public libraries
• training session on NHS knowledge resources for public reference library staff
• sharing resources through BPL interlending scheme
• promotion of BPL activities within the LRC

Input from BPL includes:

• outreach collections of books  for the childrens and young peoples clinical areas
• outreach collection for the LRC
• support for a BHNFT recreational library readers group, including expertise and also books for the group
• advice on children's books and reading lists for BHNFT staff
• attendance at joint promotional activities

Working with, and making recommendations to Doncaster Public Libraries to develop a Health and Wellbeing Information Service. This has included:

• development of a health information training programme for all public library staff, delivered by the Knowledge and Information Skills Officers at Doncaster Royal Infirmary
• promotion of our new Health Information Enquiry Service to patients at the hospital, and through Doncaster Public Libraries, to all residents, patients and carers
• creating health and wellbeing collections in each of the public libraries
• recommendations for terms of reference for a Health and Wellbeing Working Group
• development and promotion of the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme

A reading group has been set up as a joint venture between the library and the Occupational Therapy department for patients in the psychiatric hospital. We meet for an hour every fortnight.

Evidence suggests that reading for pleasure lifts people’s moods. Previously, the Library team had delivered mood-boosting sessions in the Library and to the Trust’s literacy cohort, gaining positive feedback. 

In response to requests, the second phase has been for the Library Manager, Senior Library Assistant and Trust’s Co-ordinating Chaplain to take mood-boosting reading sessions on two wards.

Themed readings are selected from national Reading Agency collections which were added to Library stock. Brief passages of prose and poems are read for 15-20 minutes to patients and staff in the day room of Torbay’s Care of the Elderly ward, and to patients in the day room of the residential mental health ward.

Worcestershire Health Libraries joined forces with Worcestershire Public Libraries to offer a reading challenge for staff: read 6 books over the summer period (July – September) with a prize draw for those who complete the challenge (prizes donated by the public library and some local businesses).

The public library closest to each hospital site loaned a collection of fiction titles. These titles included some Quick Reads for those less confident at reading or who may prefer something lighter.

The Challenge was offered to community staff as well as hospital staff.

Warwickshire public library service has installed a book vending machine in a corridor at the George Eliot Hospital (GEH). It can be used by members of the public or staff. GEH Library staff provide first-line technical support.

Health information literacy for Recovery College members. One of the tenets of the recovery model in mental health is the journey towards self-care.  This relies on the availability of information about mental illness and maintaining wellbeing. 

Recovery Colleges are being set-up across the mental health sector to offer an educational approach to the recovery journey.  The Centre for Mental Health suggest that the educational model:

• helps people recognise and make use of their talents and resources
• assists people in exploring their possibilities and developing their skills
• supports people to achieve their goals and ambitions
• staff become coaches who help people find their own solutions
• students choose their own courses, work out ways of making sense of (and finding meaning in) what has happened and become experts in managing their own lives

We have established the Reminiscence Collection in the professional library resource here at St Martin's. This is a collection of reminiscence boxes,  which contain themed items reminiscent of past times for use with patients in stimulating memory such as music, childhood toys, hobbies and pastimes etc. Also a collection of books and a variety of individual items which carers can also use. 

Reminiscence is a universal experience. It can be of particular importance to older people because it:

• highlights their assets rather than their disabilities
• enhances their feelings of self worth and esteem
• helps in recognising individuality and identity
• builds a bridge between the older person and those who care for them
• is enjoyable and stimulating

Although the Reminiscence Collection is often used primarily with people who have one of the several forms of dementia, it can also be used with adults with learning disabilities, or people who have visual problems.

St Martin’s Library has built up a collection of materials to stimulate and support reminiscence as part of our service as an aid to those who care for people living in hospitals, residential homes and sheltered accommodation and also being cared for by family or friends at home.

Health information literacy for Recovery College members. One of the tenets of the recovery model in mental health is the journey towards self-care.  This relies on the availability of information about mental illness and maintaining wellbeing. 

Recovery Colleges are being set-up across the mental health sector to offer an educational approach to the recovery journey.  The Centre for Mental Health suggest that the educational model:

• helps people recognise and make use of their talents and resources
• assists people in exploring their possibilities and developing their skills
• supports people to achieve their goals and ambitions
• staff become coaches who help people find their own solutions
• students choose their own courses, work out ways of making sense of (and finding meaning in) what has happened and become experts in managing their own lives

Introduction to Research Training for service users and staff designed and delivered by Librarian in partnership with the Trust Research and Development department.

Early in 2012 UHMBFT commissioned a course from University of Lancaster to develop skills in interviewing patients, carers and staff. This brought together a multidisciplinary group, including the head of libraries to develop their skills in this area and resulted in the creation of the Trust Stories Team.

This group interviewed individuals about their experiences within the hospital for the trust board and departments wishing to capture incidents from a more personal angle.

The team tapes or films these interviews and they are used as part of general training sessions or specialist learning lessons events.

The library team are cataloguing and classifying these recently captured stories plus a collection of previously commissioned recordings on elderly care.  These will be hosted on the library management system, Heritage.

In addition, the team are heavily involved in the working group to resolve governance and access issues plus introducing a robust evaluation method to capture usage and impact.