Severe and Enduring Mental Health Needs
Severe and enduring mental illness encompasses a category of mental health conditions that profoundly impact a person’s thoughts, emotions, and daily functioning.
Unlike transient struggles, these conditions persist over time, demanding ongoing support and understanding. Conditions such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and other chronic functional disorders fall under the umbrella of severe and enduring mental health needs. These conditions often require long-term management and can significantly affect various aspects of a person’s life.
Our care sets us apart
Living with severe and enduring mental health poses unique challenges, affecting not only the individual but also their support network. From societal stigma to navigating complex treatment plans, understanding and addressing these challenges is a crucial step toward fostering a more compassionate and inclusive community.
Our holistic treatment approach involves all aspects of the person’s health and can include medication, non-pharmacological approaches, and social support.
Bloomfield Hospital welcomes and supports the National Model of Care for People with Severe and Enduring Mental Illness and Complex Needs. The model of care has been developed as a result of an initiative from the Health Service Executive (HSE) Mental Health Service. It arose from the recognition that those with arguably the most severe and enduring mental illnesses need specialist services to assist the individual in their recovery. The most effective services are those that take a holistic view of the individual’s needs, strengths, and interests, and use the skills of the multidisciplinary team to develop an individual care plan that supports the individual on their recovery journey. Bloomfield Hospital encompasses the key principles of delivering a specialist service for residents diagnosed with severe and enduring mental illness and complex needs.
We focus on the key recovery principles of hope, connectedness, empowerment, and the creation of an environment in which residents are assisted to define what recovery means to them. This includes the promotion of choice and provision of opportunities for residents to build social roles and positive self-identity.
This refers to interventions based on an approach that acknowledges the biological, psychological, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to positive health outcomes for residents. The benefits of multidisciplinary teamwork are central to the provision of a high-quality service and excellent outcomes for residents. Such an approach values the input of clinical and non-clinical staff and peer support workers.
Services are delivered through a combination of the unique lived experience of residents and family members and the professional expertise of healthcare staff. In this way, Bloomfield Hospital actively seeks out resident and family members’ feedback that allows meaningful participation and representation of residents and family members at all stages of service planning, delivery, and evaluation.
At Bloomfield Hospital we appreciate the importance of a calm, respectful, and hopeful therapeutic environment. This is based on the establishment and maintenance of safe and supportive relationships between staff residents. In this way, Bloomfield Hospital places a key emphasis on staff availability to residents and thereby promotes respectful day-to-day interactions by building understanding and collaborative relationships.
Bloomfield Hospital recognises the skills, talents, and resilience of residents. This is balanced with identification of risk and vulnerabilities. In collaboration with the MDT, residents, family members, and key stakeholders, risk assessment and safeguarding become a negotiated process that maximises resident autonomy and personal responsibility.
