Bibliotherapy – set
up and facilitated by Worcestershire health Libraries on two psychiatric wards
Bibliotherapy is the use of fiction and poetry to support
and increase positive outcomes for people with mental health and wellbeing
issues.
Benefits include:
• alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety
• increase self-esteem and
improve social skills and concentration
David Chamberlain
(Lead Librarian, Service Development) set up a reading group with
Psychiatric Nursing and Occupational Therapy support on two Older Adult
Psychiatric Wards. Both ran for 10 weeks, with themed topics and there were
over 80 participants. It was so successful the same model was run on a
different hospital site and the group is planned to run yearly.
Comments from patients include:
“Re-kindled my passion for reading”
“We’re all in this together – reading and analysing the
poetry”
“Did her the world of good – normally she doesn’t say
anything, she opened right up after the war poems in the evening and had us all
enthralled for 2 hours”
“Reading to Patients”
initiative started at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch
Reading to patients has been set up as a service between the
Chaplaincy service at the Alexandra Hospital and Worcestershire Health
Libraries. It consists of trained volunteers going on to the ward and, with the
agreement of the patients, reading aloud to them. The content is completely
decided by the patient.
Storytelling is at the heart of the initiative. This is
sometimes known as bibliotherapy, which has many benefits including:
• helping
to improve communication and make a connection with patients
• encouraging
reminiscence in people with dementia
David Chamberlain
(Lead Librarian, Service Development) worked with the Chaplain and ten
volunteers in setting up, training and supporting volunteers.
Picture: Helen Birkenshaw, one of the Chaplaincy volunteers
reading to a patient.
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