The Tree of Life is a workshop running in the inpatient units of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). It promotes a recovery-focused approach on the inpatient acute mental health wards. The project team runs sessions focusing on people’s hopes, strengths, culture, heritage and spirituality.
The Tree of Life is a workshop running in the inpatient units of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). It promotes a recovery-focused approach on the inpatient acute mental health wards. The project team runs sessions focusing on people’s hopes, strengths, culture, heritage and spirituality. There are three key principles behind the sessions:
This project aims to address the needs of the ethnically diverse population that SLaM cares for, and enables people to express and acknowledge their internal resources and individuality. The workshop is co-produced with, and attended by, both service users and staff. These workshops are also available for families, carers and supporters. Each workshop is co-facilitated by a psychologist and a person with lived experience of inpatient acute mental health care. Interpreters are arranged if needed.
A sample of people who use Tree of Life rated their satisfaction with the workshop at 89% and staff reported that the workshops have helped them to see people in care as individuals rather than patients. Tree of Life won the 2015 Positive Practice in Mental Health award for Diversity and Equality in Service Provision and was highly commended for the 2015 Positive Practice in Mental Health award for Patient Experience. It has also been submitted to the Race Equality Foundation as an example of good practice.
