MH20.2013 Use a recovery focused approach in working alongside the person with mental health needs and agree plans to meet their needs

Overview

This standard covers working alongside the person with mental health needs to review the options available to them to meet their needs. You need to recommend a recovery focused approach that facilitates and supports the person with mental health needs to take a lead in creating their own recovery journey. This approach involves enabling people to gain the inspiration and support to begin their journeys of recovery drawing on their own strengths, aspirations and resources and using self-determination and self-management in the achievement of representing oneself. Working with the person and those who support them to develop goals which support recovery is a fundamental aspect of strengths based and recovery focused service provision. In taking this forward you need to understand the concepts of empowerment and self-determination. Recovery and development of representing oneself are the aims of all interventions in mental health. This standard should thus be read not as a separate standard but rather as both drawing on and supporting each of the more specific functions defined by other mental health standards. This standard applies to those who work with people with identified mental health needs where you will be working with the person in negotiating, developing and agreeing plans to meet their needs. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 2

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:

1. the current national legislation, guidelines and local policies and protocols which affect your work practice
2. your own role, values and responsibility and how this relates to maintaining a recovery focused relationship
3. ethical dilemmas and conflicts of interest and their implications on your practice
4. recovery from mental illness and the factors that facilitate peoples recovery experiences through self-determination
5. recovery narratives and ways in which people self-manage their experiences
6. how people with long term mental health needs can recover and how recovery is unique to the individual person
7. how to communicate effectively in the appropriate medium to meet any recipients needs and preferences
8. the importance of valuing, recognising, respecting and promoting the diversity, expertise and experience of people with mental health needs and their significant others
9. the importance of recognising and building on peoples' own particular strengths, aspirations and resources in the journey of recovery and development of self-management skills
10. factors that enable people to have a positive sense of personal identity beyond their mental illness
11. ‘mental disorders' and the most effective supports and treatments available
12. approaches and frameworks that enable people to self-manage symptoms or distressing experiences and avoid setbacks
13. how to maintain the trust and confidence of people with mental health needs and significant others by communicating in an open, accurate and understandable way
14. strategies to challenge discrimination, disadvantage and other forms of inequality and injustice
15. the remit, values, powers and resources of your organisation and organisations related to your work
16. the impact and interaction of education, health, housing, income, community resources and community safety on need and preferred outcomes
17. criteria for accessing support or triggering statutory powers in your own and other related organisations
18. the range of local mental health resources and services and how to access these
19. the importance of mutual self-help and peer support services
20. the importance of carers in supporting recovery and development of self-management skills
21. the efficacy of different forms of provision
22. theories and methods of:
    1. promoting engagement of people and those significant to them
    2. determining the needs, strengths and desired outcomes of those accessing services
23. sources of evidence based and values based practice

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

1. explain your role in acting as a point of contact to the person and significant others in a manner, and at a level and pace, appropriate to them
2. encourage and support people to recognise their own strengths, aspirations and resources, and how they can build on these in moving towards recovery and development of self-management skills
3. encourage people to express their views on who they wish to be involved in discussions about what they would like to happen
4. offer your own views in a manner which acknowledges the person's views and needs and is likely to be perceived as non-threatening and non-judgemental
5. identify and access other potentially valuable and relevant sources of information on the person's mental health needs and strengths consistent with the person's wishes and any legal requirements
6. remedy any inconsistencies and gaps in the information available as far as possible and bring these to the attention of the appropriate people
7. record a summary of the person's mental health needs, strengths and aspirations in a way that can be used to plan the services to be offered, ensuring the person is involved throughout the process
8. discuss whether and how the preferred options and resources identified by people and significant others:
1. are appropriate for addressing their mental health needs
2. allow for positive risk taking with due regard to the safety of the person, significant others and the community
3. are consistent with legal and organisational requirements
4. could be met from available resources
9. work with people, significant others, other practitioners and organisations to negotiate alternatives where:
1. preferred options are inappropriate or do not comply with legal and organisational requirements
2. preferred options cannot be met from available resources
10. assess, justify and recommend a course of action, taking into account:
1. your duty to protect and safeguard people, families, groups, communities, yourself and other practitioners
2. the needs, strengths and preferred options of people and significant others
3. risks to people, families, groups, communities, self and other practitioners
4. information from all sources
5. any legal requirements and duties and their implications
6. available resources, including creative alternatives
7. your own impact on the process and outcomes
8. unmet need and any risks arising from this
11. agree a course of action with the person, significant others and those delivering the services, and put in place the necessary arrangements for provision, monitoring and review
12. enable people to complete and record their own personal recovery plan which may be written or recorded in a way the person is comfortable with
13. make accurate, legible and complete records of the agreed course of action for meeting the person's mental health needs consistent with organisational and professional requirements
14. make complete and accurate records of any gap between the person's identified needs and the availability of resources and services to meet those needs, including any risk arising from this, and pass these to the appropriate people
15. seek further advice and support if you have difficulty in relation to recovery practice in understanding people's concerns, priorities and other values, and/or resolving conflicts with or between values

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: HWB2 Assessment and care planning to meet people's health and wellbeing needs