Pathways

Why a professional should choose the service

• We provide an innovative, individually tailored recovery-based approach to improving mental health and wellbeing.
• All referrals for assessment are seen within 14 calendar days.

Support offered

Groups

We offer a range of time-limited groups.  These groups may be activity based or they may be psychoeducational.  A psychoeducational group is one which will hopefully help you to learn practical and positive skills that will support you to manage your mental health difficulty more effectively.

We know that attending groups can have many benefits, such as building confidence, creating a sense of enjoyment and achievement, helping to get back into hobbies and interests, improving physical health, and reducing a sense of isolation by meeting other people who may have had similar experiences.  Some of our groups are really useful if you would eventually like to return to work, as they help to test out and improve skills.

We will work with you to explore your interests and support you to engage with activities that will bring you enjoyment as well as challenge you and help you to improve in the areas in which you are struggling.

Groups that run on a regular basis include:

• Allotment
• Woodshed
• Footpaths group
• Creative writing
• Anxiety management
• Drama
• Stepping Stones therapeutic women’s group
• Mindfulness
• Mood management (Mindfulness Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) group
• Men’s group
• Gym group

Please note this is not an exhaustive list and groups are subject to change.  Where there is a high demand for a certain group, you may be placed on a waiting list. 

For more information on the groups you may be offered at Pathways, please refer to the group profiles tab.

1:1 Interventions

Interventions are driven by the needs and goals of the individual and so you could be offered time-limited one-to-one sessions if you would initially find a group setting difficult, if you would struggle to get to our base in Mirfield or if your needs would not be met by accessing group work.  There is a whole range of 1:1 interventions you may be offered, these include:

• Vocational support – Working with you to overcome barriers to accessing, maintaining or returning to employment – this could be paid or voluntary work
• Graded exposure – This involves a combination of anxiety management techniques and practical support to gradually face situations you are anxious about, e.g. leaving the house, using public transport or visiting crowded places
• Activity planning – This involves helping you get back into a satisfying routine by supporting you to plan, prioritise and structure your week. Good for improving motivation and a sense of achievement
• Anxiety management – Support to improve your understanding of what makes you anxious, techniques to overcome the physical, mental, and behavioural effects of anxiety
• Exploration of interests – Sometimes it can be difficult to initially identify what you would like to do at Pathways. If this is the case, support can be offered to explore this in more depth and to come up with some ideas to try

We will not discharge you from Pathways with nothing to move on to.  Our service users move on to a variety of different progression routes; this might community groups, college, paid work volunteering to run your own group in a mental health setting or a whole variety of other volunteering jobs.

Outcomes

• Improved function
• Self-management skills
• Improved engagement with community services
• Recovery
• Relapse prevention

Referrals accepted from:

AHPs, CMHTs, Consultants, Local authority staff, Other Trust services, Single Point of Access team

Referral criteria:

A Pathways referral form is required, along with an up to date Mental Health Clustering Tool and Risk Assessment A.

The initial assessment

We will see you for an initial appointment within 14 days of receiving your referral.  Your assessment will be carried out by either a social worker or occupational therapist.  You are welcome to bring someone with you to the appointment if you would like support.  The initial assessment is a good opportunity for us to get to know you and for you to find out more about Pathways.  During the appointment, we will ask you some questions about your mental health and how you are coping at the moment, we will also ask about your interests and goals for the future.  Following the initial assessment, we will have a discussion with our team, then we will get back to you with some suggestions about potential ways we can support you.

The care plan

Everyone who attends Pathways will jointly develop a care plan with their named key worker.  The care plan outlines your identified goals, and how Pathways will support you towards these.

Care plan reviews

You will be invited to attend an initial care plan review, which will take place at the end of your first group or 1:1 intervention.  This will give us the opportunity to discuss how you are progressing with the goals set out in your care plan, and whether coming to Pathways is helping you.  As well as reviewing goals, we discuss what the next steps might be in supporting you towards your recovery.  You will be invited to attend a care plan review following each group or 1:1 intervention.  As with your initial appointment, you are welcome to bring someone along with you for support.  Your care coordinator will always be invited to attend these reviews.

Professional information for referrers

• We provide an innovative, individually tailored recovery-based approach to improving mental health and wellbeing.
• All referrals for assessment are seen within 14 calendar days.

We accept referrals from individuals who have been clustered as a 4 or above.

Transfer of care coordination

If the current care coordinator is planning to discharge and have referred to Pathways they must state this at the time of the referral.

Generally, the procedure is that Pathways will take on care coordination if appropriate at the point of the initial care plan which takes place 4 – 6 weeks after a service user starts. This is so we can be sure they have engaged and that they are comfortable and prepared.

The current care coordinator must get the agreement from the identified new care coordinator that they will take on the role. They must also agree on a way of formally transferring. Usually and best practice would dictate that this should be at the initial care plan. However, if they are on standard care this may be done via a professionals meeting or a telephone conversation. This should be recorded on RiO.

All appropriate assessments must be up to date and any risks shared. The service user must be informed and agree to have a new care coordinator.

Please do not:

• Discharge without transferring and having an agreement with the new care coordinator
• Plan to discharge without informing Pathways that this is your intention
• Leave a message and discharge

For any issues or enquiries please give us a call on 01924 326540. We are happy to guide you through and allocate care coordination within the Pathways team.