Gwen Irving
University of Hull
Andy Flockton
Central Hull Community Mental Health Team
Steve Webster
West Hull Community Mental Health Team
‘It made me feel better about
myself’
A life in the day Volume 7 Issue 4 November 2003 © Pavilion
9
Background
Clients who receive services from Community
Mental Health Teams (CMHTs), in line with
national trends, are predominantly those who are
considered to have severe and enduring mental
health problems. The lack of opportunity for
service users to engage in meaningful daytime
occupation has been highlighted as a gap in
mental health service provision (Sainsbury
Centre for Mental Health, 1998). The National
Service Framework for Mental Health
(Department of Health, 1999) recognises the
importance of occupational engagement to good
mental health and recommends the development
of such activities within mental health services.
Physical activity and exercise are clearly
forms of meaningful occupational activity, so it
therefore would make sense to develop physical
activity and exercise opportunities within
mainstream mental health services (Faulkner &
Biddle, 1999; Mentality, 2003).
During 1999, in an effort to meet the
National Service Framework recommendations
on meaningful occupation and to respond to
research evidence, two CMHTs in Hull set up
separate sports groups. These groups were aimed
at clients with varying degrees of mental health
problems, living in the community. These
separate groups later merged to form one joint
group.
The aims of the group were:
● to encourage motivation to participate in an
expressed interest
● to encourage some weekly structure
● to increase social contact
● to support the development and use of
different roles in a group context
● to support the development and use of social
and interpersonal skills
● to encourage use of previously acquired
sports skills
● to encourage a sense of fun and play
● to support people using the group as a
stepping-stone to other community activities.
The group met in a hired hall on a weekly
basis from 1999 to 2002, with an average of ten
members and two staff. Most weeks, the group
chose team games as the dominant activity and
these lasted for about an hour and a half with a
rest break.
This qualitative research project
complements quantitative data previously
collected by the project workers. In engaging
In Hull, staff in the mental health service have established a link with colleagues at the university and
worked together to make a qualitative evaluation of a sports group for mental health service users - the
Sport in the Community programme. Their findings reveal that a substantial level of organisational
commitment is required to make the most of the opportunity.
Sports