Dumfries and Galloway Wellness and Recovery College

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When did you first introduce the innovation?

Between 12 and 24 months ago

Please describe the innovation you have developed

The Dumfries and Galloway Wellness and Recovery College (DGWRC) is a local project based in the School of Health, Nursing and Midwifery at University of the West of Scotland, Dumfries campus. The College delivers wellness and recovery focused learning and development opportunities to local people. We are proud to be the first Wellness and Recovery College in Scotland and also the only one in the UK to be situated within a University.

The College widens participation in education through a range of initiatives. Firstly, courses are co-developed and co-delivered in partnership with peer trainers; people with lived experience of a mental health issue or lived experience of supporting someone with a health issue. The highly participative nature of courses is appreciated by students who valued being consulted and feel that the trainers respond to their expressed areas of interest/questions. This dialogue provides an opportunity for students to be treated as equals:

The University environment reinforces the student identity, moving away from a therapeutic or treatment orientated approach. The College provides bespoke, inclusive learning opportunities which vary in length and design, creating a collaborative approach to education which uses innovative pedagogies to put students at the heart of the process. Additionally, the College reinforces UWS strategic ambition to make a positive contribution to the local community. Dumfries and Galloway Wellness and Recovery College reflects UWS strategy, promoting a community facing environment which fosters resilience, welcomes diversity and promotes citizenship. Many people returning to education find it difficult to re-enter the education system; this may be for a range of reasons including previous experience, confidence or practicalities.

What prompted you to develop this innovation?

The College was developed by UWS Mental Health Nurse Lecturers, Marie McCaig, Lisa McNay and Glenn Marland. It was prompted by a visit to the NHS run Recovery College in Nottingham by Marie McCaig and Lisa McNay. They came back inspired and motivated to develop a Wellness and Recovery College in Dumfries and Galloway that was open to all members of the community, that reduce stigma, encouraged recovery and self-management.

In your view, what is it about this innovation that makes it different/important?

The Dumfries and Galloway Wellness and Recovery College draws on the expertise of teaching staff within the Department, local professionals and members of the local community who have lived experience of mental health or caring for those experiencing health issues. The college uses principles of co-production to ensure that the courses offered maximise the potential to engage, empower and inspire students with knowledge and information about recovery and wellness.

To what extent does your innovation make use of existing approaches, resources or technologies?

The Dumfries and Galloway Wellness and Recovery College is hosted by the University and alongside the administrative and core support offered by the University the college also makes use of the classrooms on the Dumfries campus. We also work with University marketing teams at open days and local marketing opportunities co-promote the University and the wellness and recovery college services. Information about the University and its courses are made available to all our students.

University staff have supported the growth and delivery of the College in a variety of ways including leading co-production workshops, training volunteers and also delivery of courses in their areas of specialism. The courses are also open to students at the University and in the future we will be looking at ways to strengthen links between the two student bodies.

The recent evaluation identified the positive impact of being hosted by UWS. This was seen to reinforce the learning values and focus, further contributing to a positive experience for students, giving people a sense of confidence that courses would be high quality. Being part of a University was also empowering for College students, some of whom had had previous negative experiences of education. Students therefore indicated their appreciation for various factors linked to, and arising from, the inclusive ethos of the college. As a consequence, students do not feel ‘different’ or stigmatised: they feel treated as equals.

To what degree has this innovation led to changes in education or clinical practice?

The College differs from other Recovery Colleges in that we promote equal access: courses are open to all adults living in Dumfries and Galloway; students are anyone in the local community with an interest in courses and include people affected by physical and mental health issues, their supporters and people working within mental health services. The vision is to create an educational environment which reduces mental health stigma and discrimination while building connections and citizenship (Marland et al., 2014). University staff support the growth and delivery of the College in a variety of ways including leading co-production workshops, training volunteers and also delivery of courses in their areas of specialism. The courses are also open to students at the University and in the future we will be looking at ways to strengthen links between the two student bodies.

Example courses include: Opening conversations about drugs and alcohol; Understanding self-harm; Understanding dementia; Talking and listening around sensitive issues; Creating positive relationships; First steps to research; Singing for health ; So now you’re a Carer? Going forward from here.

All sessions are evidence based and often include a practical element, for example, in the session on understanding Self Harm, students create a ‘Hope Box’, whilst in the Opening conversations about drugs and alcohol session students make ‘Mocktails’ whilst discussing the key ‘ingredients’ of opening conversations.

References:
Marland, G, McNay, L and McCaig, M. (2014). Empowering education: establishing a Wellness and Recovery College in a Scottish University. Scottish Recovery Network.

What evidence do you have of the impact of the innovation?

The College has a collaborative and integrated approach to quality. The College team meet monthly with peer trainers to share ideas, discuss course development and review course evaluations, the latter providing strong evidence that students’ find DGWRC an effective resource for their mental health and wellbeing.

Positive transitions are encouraged and the College provides a range of prospects for personal and professional growth. Students and peer trainers have opportunities for ongoing development and training. For example since attending sessions, one student has facilitated a workshop to UWS students based on her experiences of living with a diagnosis of personality disorder. Other students are keen to become peer trainers. Additionally, some students have chosen to progress with their studies by enrolling in part time or full time study at UWS. Two of the peer trainers are currently in full time study following volunteering.

A number of UWS students and staff have also attended courses at the college. We are working on ways to increase awareness and relevance of the College among the University student and staff.

We have worked with an external evaluator to evaluate the College processes and impact, conducting interviews with students, peer trainers and professional trainers to capture experiences of people in the co-development, co-delivery and co-receiving of the courses so far. As we move out of our pilot phase we have also continued to reflect on and develop our self-evaluation practices to help ensure that we capture our impact on the local community and our students while staying true to our principles of open, non-judgemental, values-based education.

To what degree has the innovation been disseminated in your organisation or elsewhere?

So far we have published the following articles:

Marland, G, McNay, L and McCaig, M. (2014). Empowering education: establishing a Wellness and Recovery College in a Scottish University. Scottish Recovery Network.
McCaig, M, McNay, L, Marland, G, Bradstreet, S and Campbell, J. (2014). Establishing a recovery college in a Scottish University. Mental health and social inclusion journal. Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 92-97.

Our peer trainers recently presented in partnership with the Scottish Recovery Network (SRN) at the 4th National Co-production Conference in May 2015 in Glasgow on the following topic: ‘putting the co-into Production’

Marie McCaig attended the International Recovery College Community of Practice Meeting 2-4 of June 2015 in London.

The Recovery College won the Innovations in Education award at the 2015 Mental Health Nursing Forum Scotland annual awards event.

Please provide details of any plans you have to disseminate the innovation in the future.

We have plans for further publications as the College develops and moves out of its pilot stage and more evidence of our impact emerges.