Brendan's make inroads to recovery By Patricia Calnan St. Brendan's vocational rehabilitation programme, established almost four years ago to get clients with histories of mental health problems back into the workplace, has been one of the hospital's big success stories.

With many of their clients already employed in the Island's banks, supermarkets, wholesale distributors, hospitals and hotels, as well as courier and construction services, there are now plans to expand the programme into such areas as law firms, insurance and accounting firms.

"We've had a very good response from managers,'' says vocational rehabilitation therapist Sharon Bailey, "but I'm sorry to say the problems tend to lie with the co-workers who say `I don't want to work with someone like that'.

"They have a stereotyped image of these people, as if they are straight out of `One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' or something. What many people don't realise is that the person sitting next to them at work may be one of our clients.'' To that end, she often holds reassuring talks with staff. "And within our rehabilitation team there is also an educator who specialises on this aspect and gives talks to groups and firms.'' Mrs. Bailey is encouraged by the fact that a wider range of opportunities for her clients are now opening up. In all, these number in the region of 300.

"The Bermuda Mental Health Foundation has been very helpful in opening many doors for us into the corporate world. We don't want our people just packing groceries, because so many of them are capable of offering far, far more than that.'' Most of her clients, she explains, just want a chance to prove themselves.

"Let's face it, a person with a heart problem, or cancer doesn't lose his job. But someone who has had a mental breakdown doesn't get the same kind of sympathy. There are quite a few people in our community who have choppy work records because of mental illness.'' She cites the case of one of her clients who was employed for eight years and then had a relapse. "He hasn't been able to work since. They shut the door on him after eight years of very good service. Yet this person could have contributed so much.'' Mrs. Bailey, who set up the programme as a component of the 25-strong, overall rehabilitation service at St. Brendan's, emphasises that great care is taken in screening clients' suitability for employment and matching them to an appropriate job. To that end, she works with Government and the private sector. "Employers have issues that have to be addressed and we recognise that safety is a legitimate concern. It goes almost without saying,'' she adds, "that we do not place someone who has violent tendencies in a workplace setting.'' It is her belief, however, that it makes sense -- sociologically and financially, for companies to employ as many of her clients as possible. "If we don't employ these people, then the community ends up paying for them. It makes far more sense, for those who can, to make their own contribute to paying for their care. Otherwise, we all end up supporting them.'' Under her programme, occupational opportunities are divided into three categories. The first centres on those who are deemed to have chronic problems. These people are trained at the St. Brendan's therapy section to perform simple tasks, some of them going on to work at King Edward VII Hospital in places such as the laundry, or general stores. While most are technically employed by the St. Brendan's unit some are so successful that they are taken on as employees of the Hospitals Board.

"Then,'' says Mrs. Bailey, "we have what we call `supported employment' and this covers people who work well at various jobs but still require some kind of supervision, especially in case of a relapse. We have people employed at the bank and at an electrical company who would come under this category.'' Finally, there are a large group who fall into the `competitive' group.

"These are people seeking open employment but just need some help initially.

So I help them get going, but quite often they are able to manage very well on their own. They have just needed stabilising.'' A vital aspect of her work, she says, is screening a client to ascertain levels of education and work skills. "We try to focus on those skills. A lot also depends on their medication and whether they have side-effects. It's very important to stay within their skills and interests. We also have to be very careful not to put them back in a stressful situation -- which may have caused them to crack up in the first place.'' The people in this group represent just about every section of society, she reveals. "We have people who are teachers, people who own their own businesses, some with university degrees, some quite brilliant people. It's a huge mix and we should try to overcome our biases and be careful not to stereotype people.'' Mrs. Bailey, who was born in England, grew up in Canada, obtaining a degree in psychology and a masters equivalent in rehabilitation services from York University in Toronto, came to Bermuda almost four years ago. Before marrying her Bermudian husband, she worked as a rehabilitation counsellor in a Canadian hospital and in employment development for the Canadian government. She is now completing a masters in education.

EMPLOYMENT GAINS -- St. Brendan's Hospital vocational therapist, Sharon Bailey, believes matching clients with a willing employer is a win-win situation.