Celebration Event (Intermediate Care Fund Pilot Project) For Service Users in Flintshire

On the evening of Monday 10th April at the Beaufort Park Hotel in Mold, we held a celebration event following a pilot project which was a departure from our dementia work.

At the beginning of this year, we advertised the pilot project in Flintshire, which had been funded by the Intermediate Care Fund, to identify 20 adults with a learning disability who would like and benefit from a 6 week life story programme. We recruited a new member of staff, Debbie Ditchfield, to run this project. The idea was that the users would be able, with Book of You’s multimedia app, to put together a life story using photographs, text, spoken word, music and film. Similar to our dementia reminiscence work, this life story process is helpful to this group by helping the participants tell their unique story and share it not only with friends and family, but also with carers and agencies, who are then in a better position to provide genuine person centred care. Of course, creating a life story this way is also great fun and helps those with a learning disability to share and take pride in what is important to them.

The project proved popular and the life story work took place in small groups, sometimes training staff who then worked with the young adults themselves, and also within the homes of some individuals with carers.

The pilot itself and the resulting celebration evening was a great success. Participants enjoyed the relaxed evening and buffet, meeting up with friends, families and carers and all received Book of You Certificates of Achievement presented individually by Nicki Kenealy, Contract Team Manager at Flintshire County Council. Quite a few took the opportunity to show some of their books on the large screen and talk about themselves and their favourite things. Their pride in their achievement so far was clear for all to see. Feedback during the pilot and since, reveals that they have all enjoyed this activity and intend to continue with Book of You in future.

We look forward to working with more adults with learning disabilities within and outside Flintshire in the near future.