Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/04/2022
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Categories No Categories
On Tuesday 12th April, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM / 18:00 Japan, Niels Mulder and Takashi Iseda will present ways to collaborate with the informal network in The Netherlands and Japan: the resource group and “Seikatsu Rinsho”. Because of the different time zones, this Webinar is not on the usual Wednesday evening, but on Tuesday during the day. In this Webinar, we bring together methods to support recovery by working with the informal network (family, friends) from Europe and Japan.
Network psychiatry is both a treatment philosophy (combining 2 of the EUCOMS principles recovery practices and evidence-based medicine) as well as providing an organizational framework for integrated care. Network psychiatry includes building networks on the level of the client (microsystem), organizations within a region (mesolevel) and finally on an (inter)national macrolevel.
The network on the level of the client (microlevel) consists of an informal network (significant others) and a formal network of professionals involved in the treatment or support of the client. There are several ways for organizing network psychiatry on a microlevel.
During our webinar, we will highlight two ways of organizing this microlevel:
‘’Seikatsu Rinsho’’ – Japan
Resource groups – Netherlands
Guiding principles in both methods include placing the needs and desires of the client in the centre of the working process, and close collaboration on the level of the client with significant others, as well as with relevant professionals: ‘’nothing about us without us’’.
‘’Seikatsu Rinsho’’ was developed in Japan in 1958, and has two important guiding principles: (1) creating support based on individual coping strategies for life events, and encouraging flexible support on the part of professionals and other carers, and (2) coproduction between family and professionals. Meetings with members are called ‘’strategic meetings’’, which provide a social learning experience for all of them. Hope is an essential ingredient, and the method tries to accurately identify what the person really wants and to ensure that this is supported by professionals and carers (Iseda et al. 2021).
The Resource group method has many similarities with the ‘’Seikatsu Rinsho’’ method and finds its origin in Goteborg, Sweden, where they have worked according to this method already for several decades. Within the Resource group method, the client ‘’nominates’’ significant others to support him during his/her recovery process. Clients aim at leading the Resource group (-meetings) themselves, supported by a professional. Hereby, clients take the lead in their recovery process. In addition, professionals who provide (parts of) the treatment participate for shorter or longer periods in the Resource group, depending on the needs of the client (Tjaden et al. 2019).
Research in the Netherlands on the effects of Resource groups as an ‘’add on’’ to Flexible Assertive Community Treatment (FACT), has shown that Resource groups increase empowerment, functioning and personal recovery as compared to FACT alone (Tjaden et al. 2021). Many FACT teams in the Netherlands are now implementing the Resource group method.
We need employers and organizations to subscribe to the principles of network psychiatry in order to educate and facilitate their professionals in this way of working. This is network psychiatry on a mesolevel. And finally, on a macrolevel, national health services, policymakers and/or insurance companies could arrange finances, and regulations to ensure fruitful collaboration between the medical/psychiatric field and the social domain for implementing the principles of network psychiatry.
We hope that implementing the principles and practices of network psychiatry ultimately contributes to better recovery of clients and fruitful collaboration between clients, significant others and professionals in the medical/psychiatric as well as in the social domain.
REGISTER HERE: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8116472545857/WN_vgizML9NS8iFdjk-2fQNwg
