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Home: Community full menu: Libraries: Bibliotherapy and the Reading and You Scheme (RAYS)

Chapter 5 - Getting it out there

Kirklees Culture and Leisure Services - March 2010
juliei.walker@kirklees.gov.uk

Chapter five - Getting it out there

pdf Download: chapter five - Getting it out there (PDF: 34kb)
  1. What you do
  2. Referral system
  3. Publicity
  4. Who to contact
  5. Be prepared
  6. Resources
  7. Problems

1) What you do.

Be clear about what you want to achieve
Who is your service aimed at and what kind of service can you offer them? This may largely be determined by the model of bibliotherapy you intend to use.

In an informal setting for instance boundaries can be fluid. You need to establish what you are prepared to do within a group or for an individual. (You might take books for an individual to a venue or even to their own home. You won't take their shopping or collect their prescription)

The model of bibliotherapy you use will largely determine your client group. However you do need to be clear about the level and area of mental health (if this is your focus) you are equipped to deal with. Clients with severe mental health problems may be beyond your scope. However you may need to be prepared to signpost them to other services which can offer support, e.g the library home service, Age Concern or the Patients Advice and Liaison Service.

Whichever model you base your service on however you will need to:
  • Establish your time limits ? how much (time) you have in a week and how you are able to distribute it.
  • Whether you are focussing on groups or individuals ? or a mixture of the two.
  • Where you will meet clients or groups. - Many health professionals, social workers etc will want to know if you can visit clients in their own homes. You will have to be clear about whether this is or is not part of the service you are offering.
  • Are you going to have a Referral system?
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2) Are you going to have a Referral system?

If so:
  • how will it work?
  • Will it be formal or informal?
  • How much information will you need about a client?

From our experience an informal approach works well.

Clients are referred by health professionals, support workers or relatives while some are self-referred.
Referrals are taken in person, by telephone, or e-mail. We do however use a referral form and in most instances would request one as a follow-up to a telephone call, e-mail etc.

They are useful for record keeping and can also include information that may not be given in an e-mail.

If an individual is referred ask the person doing the referring if they can come to a first meeting with their client . Having someone they already know present will make the client more comfortable.
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3) Publicity.

It goes without saying that good publicity is crucial to the success of your service. An eye-catching design with clear user-friendly information is a must. Think about having a generic leaflet and possibly other leaflets, posters for different groups and/or events. An in-house marketing and/or design service may be able to offer advice and support in this.
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4) Who to contact.

Find out who is the best person to approach within a service .e.g. an occupational therapist or a community psychiatric nurse; you will also need to know when they work.
  • In a hospital or care home it may be an activities co-ordinator.
  • In a general practice it may be the health visitor or practice nurse rather than the G.P.
  • Within social services there will probably be a single point of access such as Gateway to Care or a council switchboard which will pass you on to the appropriate team or person.
  • This may be a senior practitioner, social worker or community care officer.

The list below will give you some idea of the number and variety of people and services you can approach:

Health professionals e.g.

Occupational Therapists, Community Psychiatric Nurses, Health Visitors, Practice Nurses and General Practitioners.

Hospitals e.g.

Both general and those dealing with mental health and attached units - e.g. stroke rehabilitation, memory monitoring. Other services within a health trust such as the Patients Advice and Liaison Service can provide a valuable link to clients and work in a health setting. As well as occupational therapists and community psychiatric nurses you may also contact modern matrons and activities co-ordinators.

Government initiatives e.g.

Such as Surestart and Jobs Centre plus.

Third Sector Organisations e.g.

Age Concern, Joseph Rowntree Trust, Housing Associations and MIND (National Association for Mental Health)

Other council services e.g.

Libraries, Education and Social and Youth Services.

You may also contact day and drop-in centres, minority groups (special interest, ethnic and cultural etc) colleges and further education centres.

If you are working within a library service liaise closely with library staff - they will know their customers and may well be able to refer clients.

Have a clear outline of what you would say to introduce yourself and the service you are offering. Are you going to telephone, e-mail or write, or all three? In any case a follow-up letter to an initial phone call or e-mail is a good idea. You can include extra information and publicity with it.

It will be useful to have a messaging system ? a contact number/key person who can take messages when you are out/ with a group or client etc.

At some point you will probably be asked to a meeting. If so be prepared -
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5) Be prepared.

If you haven't already sent one an extended outline of what you are offering with accompanying publicity, leaflets etc will be useful as will be any documentation/research as to the benefits of the service for clients.
As mentioned before be clear about:
  1. What you can offer
  2. How much time you have?
  3. Who your service is aimed at?
  4. What the benefits may be for a client or group?
  5. Time Scale ? how many visits, sessions can you offer?
  6. What you will need from them. This may be a room to hold sessions a key worker who is able to dedicate time to identify and prepare potential members of a group and offer support during sessions.
  7. Sustainablity - can a group eventually function without your input, an individual develop the confidence to, join a library, another group etc (this will include your own aims and objectives)
  8. What feedback do you need and what do they need from you. This may be feedback on how a client is progressing within a group situation and whether it is meeting his/her needs.
A team meeting in an occupational therapy department for instance is often very productive. You will reach more people and someone in the team will be interested enough to contact you again or send referrals. You can also give out lots of leaflets

Also take anything to a meeting that can demonstrate what you do (a book quiz ? preferences rather than knowledge, a short piece of writing or a poem, some books with interesting titles, covers) This is often more effective than just a resume of your service. And will also form part of your resources -
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6) Resources.

The aforementioned excerpts, reviews and ice-breakers for use with groups and individuals. Books of course and also display material for use at events, meetings, conferences, road-shows, health days might be needed as well as leaflets and business cards.
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7) Problems.

You may still get inappropriate referrals. Be able/ready to refer them to another service if possible and if they will benefit from it. An older person for instance once their needs have been assessed may benefit more from a referral to Age Concern, a day ?centre or the home delivery service within a library.

A group may meet in a library or other venue. If this is the case check it out to make sure it is suitable. A meeting in a care home for instance may well be interrupted by a cleaner or a visitor.

For health and safety reasons it is always sensible to check out the suitability of a new venue if you are offered one. A risk assessment by a competent person should be in place for any new venue or individual home.

Ideally if you intend visiting a client in their own home you should be accompanied. Failing that someone needs to know where you are and how long you intend to be there. A mobile phone is also a good idea.

If you are working with a group in a hospital or in any other institutional setting try to get the co-operation and support of a key worker at your sessions. They will be able to advise you of any potential problems you may have with a client, distract, calm down or possibly take a difficult client out of the session and if all goes well participate in the session themselves.

If a session doesn't go well (a group may be unresponsive or unwelcoming) persevere ? they may just have had a bad day, a lunch they didn't like or be reacting to some new medication. Next time may be different and hopefully better.
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