Our next update comes from Martin Webber, who tells us a little bit about the process of training the agencies ready for their part in the pilot study.  We are currently in the midst of this training process and over the last week the team have been from Lincoln to Derby to Kent to Somerset to back home in London to deliver the training to the participating agencies…phew!

Training session in progress

“We have recruited 15 agencies so far to pilot the Connecting People Intervention, with a couple more in the pipeline. These vary from small third sector social enterprises to large NHS Mental Health Trusts. We have a good mixture of urban and rural sites and most regions of England are represented in the study. The multiple contexts we are piloting the intervention in will help us to find out more about where it can be implemented most effectively and produce the best outcome for people using their services.

Training session in progress

The intervention will be piloted by a variety of workers including social workers, community psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, community development workers and support time and recovery workers. Screening questionnaires suggest that workers and teams vary in their confidence in with working with people in the way articulated in the Connecting People Intervention model. We hope to see an improvement in their confidence following the training and support provided throughout the study. There are some signs of this happening already as we travel around the country to undertake the training.”