Talking to student midwives at Nottingham.

Today I spoke to a group of student midwives at Queens Medical Centre at Nottingham. It is a huge hospital! I do like speaking to students as they are so keen to listen and to learn.

I also had a look around the Mother and Baby Unit.

It has been a productive day and ended with a lovely comment from a student ..

'I am a student midwife you gave a talk to on the 17/12/08 at QMC. I would like to thank you for a brilliant lecture. I can say you definitely inspired me to improve upon my practice. I am soon to have a placement on a mother and baby unit and hope to take your advice with me. I definitely think that your lecture should be taught to all midwifery students as I found it highly beneficial to my career.
Thank you again.'

A good day!

Elaine

www.hanzak.com

Great Closure at Kirkby in Ashfield!

On October 10th this year I spent a very pleasant day with mums who were currently suffering from postnatal illness and some health professionals. Earlier this year a lady called Merna Carruthers, a Community Engagement Co-ordinator based at the impressive Kirkby Community Primary Care Centre near Mansfield, contacted me after she had received an email about the work I do.

http://www.nottspct.nhs.uk/content/showcontent.aspx?contentid=3474

She secured the funding and we pressed on with our 'You are not alone' programme.

At the end of the day the ladies asked if I could return to see how they had got on.

For the penultimate talk of this year I was THRILLED to see the progress they had made. Unlike the first session when they had arrived with heads down and reluctance to speak or give eye contact .. today they almost bounced in!!! What a transformation! Very well done girls. It seems the biggest improvements they had made since I spoke to them was:-

1. Feeling that they were not alone - in fact, two have become best friends! They are all offering one another support which they can both give and receive.

2. Hope that they will get much better.

3. Much less concerned about what other people say about them.

4. Have a more positive outlook.

5. Being kinder to themselves.

6. Feeling so much better in general and enjoying life more.

We reviewed what changes had taken place since we last met and discussed any remaining challenges. The wonderful aspect I found was that they now all were happy to suggest ways of progress to one another.

We enjoyed some homemade biscuits (thank you Merna) and other goodies which they brought along.

They all left with individual goals but one they all now share is the desire to help others as they have been helped. Brilliant!

A huge thank you to Merna for having the determination to helps ladies in her area; to the budget provider ... and to the ladies who have 'shared' their illness and feelings with others and in doing so have helped themselves!

I am so proud of you and am totally humbled by you all.

Let's hope there will be many others we can reach out to.

Elaine


www.hanzak.com

Tackling Stigma!

One of my passions is to help to tackle the stigma associated with mental illness. This especially strikes within the workplace - see my blog on the European Parliament from November.

The Health Secretary Alan Johnson made a landmark speech about tackling stigma and discrimination at last Thursday's New Savoy Partnership Conference about Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. Alan Johnson said: "We all have a responsibility - government, health professionals and the media to fight the prejudice that people with mental health problems experience."

The full speech is now available on the Department of Health's website. Download it from here:

http://snipurl.com/73v85

There is also some progress and useful information about 'Health Work Wellbeing' at http://www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/
Health, Work and Well-being is a Government-led initiative to improve the health and wellbeing of working age people. Founded on a growing evidence base that working is good for health, it brings together employers, unions and healthcare professionals in helping more people with health conditions to find and stay in employment.

There is a useful list of organisations at
http://www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/Resources/Links/

If you are interested in fighting stigma also look at

http://www.standtoreason.org.uk/home

They are holding a special event in London on 15th December.

Might see you there?

Elaine


www.hanzak.com

Credit Crunch - Come out smiling!

Tonight Clive Gott and I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at an event organised by Elmwood Design for their clients.
www.elmwood.co.uk

We followed Rick Bendel, Marketing Director for Asda. The evening was held for clients of the very successful Elmwood Design and the theme was 'Credit Crunch - Come out Smiling. What's the best way to get through the credit crunch? Tighten your belt and wait? No. The successful ones will be those that think their way to the future, not trim and cut themselves out of it'.

The venue was their trendy premises in London 'comfy Chesterfields and a Wi-Fi bar in Soho'. Around 50 professionals and Elmwood staff enjoyed drinks and a lovely buffet before Rick advised us on some survival tips - brace yourselves for a couple of tough years but be true to yourselves, keep things simple, cut down on wastage and be creative.
Read about Rick here http://www.asda-press.co.uk/pressrelease/57

I followed with a brief outline of my story of survival and recovery - NO Powerpoint slides - just me! I explained how the first signs of stress can lead to depression and how in retrospect I wish I had realised as maybe I would not have been so poorly in the long run. I shared some of these signs and how they may be evident in the workplace under the current stressful times. I also suggested a few techniques to help improve mental wellbeing. My tip was also not to give up and I explained how I had got the booking for tonight - I had wanted to attend a 'Go Global' event in Harrogate a few months ago but was told it was full. I tried a few days before the event - full. So I turned up on the day! As I had guessed there were some 'no-shows' so in I went! At a seminar on marketing by Jonathan of Elmwood Design, I introduced myself and he said he wanted some speakers on mental health!

Clive finished the evening off in his usual humorous style! www.clivegott.com He also explained how depression had struck him down, but also that he had recovered. He related one of his greatest challenges climbing a mountain and elaborated on how we all can achieve our goals if we have Belief, Motivation and Support.

For me tonight was a challenge as it was my first 'solo' venture into the corporate world and it worked judging by the feedback! I used Clive's theory and it worked!

The team at Elmwood were delightful - a very happy team! Thank you to you and your clients for making us so welcome.


www.hanzak.com

Dubai - another country to explore!

I joined a UK Trade and Investment mission from the Northwest to Dubai for almost a week. https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/
The idea was to meet with people who may be interested in what I have to offer. Clive Gott came with me and our aim was to present our talks as individuals and as a partnership. In past years Clive has worked in Dubai and had loved it.
We joined a lovely group of business people and UKTI staff and from the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.liverpoolchamber.org.uk/

Other colleagues from the Professional Speakers Association had also told us that it was 'the' place to speak, so we arrived full of enthusiasm.
http://www.professionalspeakersassociation.co.uk/

Unfortunately it did not prove as successful as we had anticipated. I found it to be a concrete jungle! I did not like the traffic jams; going from air-con to air-con environment and everything was so expensive! The meetings I had expected did not happen and I felt that postnatal illness and mental health is not as recognised as in the UK and to make a huge difference in Dubai I would have to spend a great deal of time, PR and marketing to make it successful. For the time being it is not likely to be be high on my list but if I do go back to Australia next autumn then I may try again in Dubai enroute.

I did love having a dhow ride in the creek and watching the sunset reflected in a bank building. I loved the atmosphere of the gold souk (market) and the tiny streets of original Dubai. I was fascinated by all the many, many nationalities out there. A desert safari trip was fun!

On the final evening I was lucky to be one of the 10 mission delegates to be invited onboard the QE2 which had arrived the previous evening. It is now to be striped and turned into a hotel. We were guests at a 'Britain in the Region' event for champagne and canapes. Lord Digby Jones gave a short presentation and I introduced myself to him! I also chatted to the medical officer of the QE2; two lovely young sailors from HMS Lancaster - one lived in Thornton Cleveleys where I spent my childhood! I spoke to the consulate general of Casablanca - who has a home in Chester, a few miles away from me. Finally I had a brief chat with Omar, who is based at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi - he told me that he had several contacts for my speaking .... so I may just go back!


Thanks to all who made the trip possible, especially Sandra Thornber from UKTI.

www.hanzak.com

I spoke at The European Parliament!

Today I set off for a potentially exciting trip – to speak at the European Parliament in Strasbourg! And it lived up to expectations!

This had come about through a series of events and meetings. Carol Henshaw, an academic psychiatrist, asked me to speak at the Marce society conference in 2006. This lead to the French delegates, Michel Maron and Abram Cohen to translating my book into French, published this year. Through Will Kintish I joined the Professional Speakers Association at which John Hotowka introduced me to Etta Cohen at Forward Ladies, who had a trip to Europe this spring. I also joined the UKTI Passport to Export scheme which gave me introductions into the British Embassies in the countries I visited. Whilst in Milan with Forward Ladies I met up with Nicole from the British Embassy. She thought that their MEP may be interested in my messages and we sent a copy of my French edition to her – Christina Muscardini. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/view.do?id=1073

Thank you to you all!

As a result I was invited by her to address the Union for Europe of the Nations at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. My travel arrangements were made brilliantly by Andrea from Wren Elite Travel, who I had met at Forward Ladies and consequently I flew from Manchester to Paris and onto Strasbourg. www.wrenelitetravel.co.uk

I checked it at the Ibis Strasbourg hotel at a pretty town called Lingolsheim, just outside Strasbourg and after a short rest got a taxi to the impressive European Parliament. As I stood in the impressive inner courtyard I reflected on how I had got here in the grand scheme of things and wondered what difference I might make to the world as a result. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament.do

A lovely Italian gentleman, Roberto, from Christina’s office met me and I was issued with my ID card.
We went up the glass elevators within the inner atrium of the EP Louise Weiss Building and found the relevant committee meeting room – I wasn’t in the main hemi-sphere (this time!). The room was tiered with large, blue chairs and individual microphones and headphones at each chair. Several had names placed in front of the microphones. Around the back of the tiers was a gallery, behind glass, where 15 interpreters were getting ready for the session. Behind the platform at the front was another control area for the technicians. After we set up my presentation EP staff were putting agendas at each ‘desk’ and also gave them to the interpreters. It all looked very efficient and impressive.
Then Roberto took me on a mini-tour of the building. We peeked in the main hemi-sphere where it was questions and answer session. Turkey was being debated. Due to my tour of the EU in Brussels earlier this year I knew that Turkey wants to become a member of the EU but there are human rights issues to be sorted. Around the hemi-sphere were various media areas for TV interviews.

I briefly met Frank Barnett, the Secretary General of the UEN, who had sent my original invitation to speak at the meeting.
http://www.uengroup.org/home.html

The meeting commenced and eventually I was invited in to do my presentation. As I settled myself down I realised that I would be speaking whilst sitting down – I hadn’t done that before, but got used to it after a few minutes. Likewise it was the first time I had spoken and had been instantly translated before! I felt I should speak a little more slowly than I usually do, but when I played back some of the video that Roberto did of me, I felt like I had my school teacher voice on! However, just before I started I could tell the other members seemed to speak normally – I guess it was the interpreters job, not mine, to worry about this. The aspect I found was strange was regarding ‘reactions of the audience’ – due to the delay in my words being translated, presumably at different speeds, individuals reacted with a smile or concern as appropriate at different times! It was rather unnerving!
15 minutes or so later I had delivered my talk telling them my personal story and why I feel postnatal illness needs initiatives in place by the EU for better recognition, treatment, resources and support across Europe. I also stressed the need for training of existing health and social professionals.
When I had finished Christina Muscardini thanked me for sharing my story and encouraging them to take some action. They have been looking at the whole area and have heard researchers, looked at statistics and learnt about the impact the illness can have. My role was to show how with treatment and support it is possible to recover and to inspire them to put the initiatives into place.
When the meeting ended she thanked me personally and with Roberto translating for us I gathered that she wants me to speak in other countries (27 member states!)and is getting Roberto to write a motion for a resolution for me to send out. To be continued!
However, one aspect I was not expecting could be extremely important. I mentioned in my talk about the problems I had faced as a result of my postnatal illness once I had recovered. This included our home insurance premium being higher due to my ‘mental health history’. Also not long after my book was published in 2005 I took a term off my teaching career as sabbatical leave to see if I could make a new career of speaking. For that term I applied to a supply teaching agency who would not consider me ‘due to my mental health history’. At the time I was horrified and even though I pointed out that I had been well for 8 years with no subsequent problems this made no difference. Also the fact that I could return to my full-time post was acceptable but part-time was not! Crazy!
At the end of the session a Polish MEP came to speak to me. He said he was very alarmed at this stigma and discrimination and would be taking the issue to other committees he is involved with such as Social Affairs and Employment. He said he had not realised that the UK was operating in this way and he would be taking steps to stop this practice. He said that unlike some mental health problems, such as schizophrenia, which are more likely to be a life-long condition, for ladies like myself who have made a full recovery there is now way that we should face such discrimination. Other EU countries do not do this and as all EU members were supposed to be united on such matters he will be taking immediate action. Wow! I do hope I have made a difference!!!

Watch this space for developments!

www.hanzak.com

Live now on Ruby's Room!

I am now on Ruby's Room main internet site!

Have a look at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/headroom/rubys/index.shtml

Short and 'sweet'?!