We love to celebrate the success of our coaches many of whom are doing great work within fascinating niches. Today we are looking at Coaching using home as a metaphorical language for health within the NHS with Jean Hammond.
1. What is your niche?
I use the home as a metaphorical language for health to address health from a broader perspective within the National Health Service.
2. What made you decide on your niche?
Home is where the heart is, for some this represents neglect, abandonment, trauma pain and disconnection from self and the community. I refer to the home as a form of metaphorical language where objects and space can be a symbolic representation as to how we see our lives and aspirations. It can also be an area where we experience difficulties and symptoms of ill health for example stress because of living in a home that has limited space or within which we feel is uninspiring. Some individuals have experiences of loss or significant changes in their lives and have difficulty coping. They may perceive that they lack the internal or external resources to rise to the challenges of every day life events. My service offers an alternative solution aimed at highlighting positive elements which nurtures their knowledge and life experience as well as personal strengths and attributes.
3. Why are you passionate about your niche?
Through my work as a Community Nurse I have had the opportunity to work with environmental health officers and saw the direct link between self perception and its manifestations through physical health and well being represented partly within the home. For example:
Example 1) a current client has a history of homelessness related to being an asylum seeker having fled from a war zone home country. This person values the home they had in their own country which was filled with family friends, and love. In the UK the home represents shame as through depression the home has been neglected. This person feels unable to invite people to visit resulting in further isolation and a feeling of being disconnected from the potential to create a new family from the local community. Part of the depression is related to difficulties in transferring personal qualities and skills into a different culture. Through the use of personal development tools lifestyle coaching will examine these limiting beliefs held around health in connection to the home and get to the root of issues presented to the GP but are unresolved. Resolution will be more effective as the work is supported by practical interventions made either by myself within role of nurse or from the services available from the environmental health officer and their home improvement agency.
Example 2) Another example might be that a person may be receiving treatment for headaches but are also feeling low in mood and struggling to sleep. It is possible that this may be related to their home situation but the individual is not clear as to the exact problem and unable to articulate the key issue. They may however hold the belief that it is not possible to change their living circumstances and feel stuck in their situation. Way forward a new model for nurses. Through coaching and motivational interviewing training I saw a way of modelling an approach that can be incorporated within a nursing role that addresses a neglected area of health related to psycho social issues, traditionally seen as the role of mental health nurse. This is particularly important as the current national health driver is to reduce cost which puts pressure on frontline health staff to ensure health outcomes are met. Yet without addressing the wider determinants of health and having the tools to do so real barriers to health will not be addressed resulting in neglected health and increased cost to care.
4. What sorts of challenges do you help people solve?
5. What benefits do you see your clients get from coaching?
6. Where do you find your clients?
I am currently working with a Migrants resource centre to develop the model as a trial. They will be my key referral source although hope to develop this model with other key services.
7. What other services do you offer?
As part of a health promotion team I am involved in running workshops for frontline staff. We train the use of communication tools used in Motivational interviewing with the focus on addressing client’s health issues from a broader perspective. The workshops will be developed and will incorporate coaching tools. I won’t rule out running a conference in the future.
8. What other questions would you like me to ask you?
What creative tools have you trailed and how effective have they been? Because clients in need of my support have language barriers and different learning/communication preferences I am experimenting with creative approaches such as story and vision boards which represent issues and goals. I have used pictures and single word captions to bring a story alive. I plan to make the use of Video and Forum theatre work to support people’s personal development along with masks and voice dialogue. The use of radio and photography will also be considered. Do you have a coaching niche that you would like to share? Join the discussion on our Facebook page to let us know.
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