Enter & View: Southside Rehabilitation Association

Summary

We chose to conduct an Enter and View visits at Southside Rehabilitation Association (SRA), a charity set up to help re-establish work habits for people whose careers have been interrupted by mental illness should be a short teaser of what it's about.

We were keen to learn from people who have mental health needs how they find information and advice about where they can seek help and support, and what their experiences of receiving this support has been. As a provider of community based mental health support services, we chose to conduct an Enter and View visits to SRA to talk to service users and staff. The aims of the visit were to listen to how mental health service users perceive the quality of the support they receive at SRA and, if and how it enables them to manage and maintain their wellbeing. Understand how service users find information and learn about where they can seek help and support elsewhere that appropriately meets their needs.

Key findings

Our visitors’ impression was that the main entrance was not clearly signposted. As first time visitors, we saw signs for ‘The Copyshop’ but nothing obvious that the building was the SRA premises.
Despite being an old building, the interior was clean and well maintained though our visitors felt that the décor seemed dated and would benefit from some modernisation.
Service users shared very positive feedback about the quality of services, emphasising the sense of purpose, increased focus and improved confidence they gained from learning new skills both at SRA and at other external organisations.

We made a series of recommendations:

Clear signage should be placed at the entrance to the premises to ensure visitors can easily locate the service.
Place noticeboards in areas where SRA clients and staff are more likely to take notice and read the information such as in the classroom or on the corridor walls (if permitted).
Goal setting and review should be a continuous process undertaken with clients so they are aware of, and feel they own their goals.

Where clients feel they have outgrown the services available at SRA, referral to Mosaic Clubhouse’s information hub or to the Living Well Network might prove useful. We would encourage SRA to find ways to increase the opportunities available for service users to participate and become more involved in how the service is run, and would advocate for finding appropriate ways to generate interest and engagement.