Volunteering within acute care settings ‐ its role in promoting hope, recovery and social inclusion
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/mhsi.2010.0239 |
| Pages | 24-27 |
| Date | 13 May 2010 |
| Published date | 13 May 2010 |
| Author | Maggie Hitchman |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Mental Health and Social Inclusion • Volume 14 Issue 2 • May 2010 © Pier Professional Ltd24
10.5042/mhsi.2010.0239
My lived experience and my
wish to volunteer
The creative and interactive volunteering that I will
describe is set within my own lived experience.
During my adult life, I have suffered from mental
illness and have been an inpatient. These periods are
crippling to the mind and so often confidence is lost.
My experience is that mental illness is an infliction
upon a person’s life that is so often misunderstood. I
was passionate about being involved in the ongoing
change in mental health services, but alongside this
was a lack of confidence, which had been knocked
due to months of dark depression.
The desire to volunteer in the hospital where I
was once admitted for treatment was a decision I
made jointly with my care staff. It aided my ongoing
recovery and fulfilled a need in me to return to a
working environment. It also helped me to gain
confidence and the environment felt safe to me.
At the time, my friends and family were
concerned about this choice of occupation. They
found it hard to understand why I would want to
return to a place of emotional pain.
In June 2009 I f ound myself standing in front of an
audience of profession als present ing a pa per at t he
National Oc cupational Therapists Conference.
I was ne rvous and excited a t having been given
such an opportunity to share my story of the
volunteer w ork I ha ve been involved wi th over
the past two years. This ar ticle is the story of that
journey. I will des cribe how and why I have chosen
to voluntee r. I wil l also e xplain some project work
that I h ave develop ed with hospital st aff. Finall y, I
will outlin e the im portance of this oc cupation in my
recovery ex perience.
My life roles and interests
I am a mother, a n artist and was, until re cently,
a volunteer visitor at a lo cal psychia tric inpati ent
hospital in Gloucester shire. I used to visit pati ents
regularly a nd was a lso a vo lunteer art ist-in-residen ce
at the h ospital. Ov er the l ast two years, this has
given me the chance to use my creat ive skills in
a number of art projects wi thin the occupational
therapy dep artment, in partnershi p with s ervice
users and staff.
Volunteering within acute
care settings – its role in
promoting hope, recovery
and social inclusion
VOLUNTEERING
Maggie Hitchman
Artist
Abstract
Maggie Hit chman, art ist and service u ser, offer s an ins piring acc ount of her exper iences as a volunteer and
artist-in-res idence at her local psychiatr ic inpatie nt hospita l in Glo ucestershire . Using her creati ve skills
as an a rtist, Mag gie was involved i n a num ber of art projec ts within the occupational th erapy depa rtment,
developed in partner ship with service users and staff, wh ich aimed to promote hope, recovery and social
inclusion.
Key words
Volunteering; Creativity; Social inclusion; Recovery; Arts
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