[Health professional]

I rarely write a blog but i read all your stories and some make me sad, frustrated and bring home the reality of what i do.

Christmas has been a diffcult time for many but it has also been a time for sharing and catching up. This christmas i can tell of two inspiring moments of a brothers and sisters support that inspired me over the festive period.

My first story is how a sister who helps (loves) her poorly brother and she helped us to make christmas presents in her kitchen with four of his new friends who also have psychosis. We made two lots of fudge and we had so much fun. The sister got some lovely paper and wrapped them all up for the boys to take home in little parcels for them to give out on christmas day to their loved ones.

The other is using sport. We really encourage it. Whether its kicking a football or playing badminton it all counts as quality time. More importantly some of the drugs used put weight on and we need to support people in maintaining healthy lifestyles. The story is of two brothers winning a local badminton tournament. I can't go into to much detail but it was a great achievement. We also play football and the brother now comes along even when his brother is at college and supports others.

Good luck to you all

[ramboself]

seems very patronising to me, poor ill things etc

[Universal Credit]

I don't like sport, especially football, but I walk a fair bit around here and it is nice to escape the house on occasion. Wouldn't want to go near the match on a saturday and thankfully it's at the opposite end of the city here. Hope it goes bankrupt sometime. That for me would be a win.

[sweetpea]

Each to their own I guess. Some people are gonna like sport, some aren't. Some would hate the idea of making fudge, others might really enjoy it. I think it's about finding activities that the person enjoys - sounds obvious I know. But I guess I just try to think about what my brother might like to do with me, rather than thinking 'what's an appropriate activity for an 'ill' person?'

Usually for us, that means going to play pool (and him beating me) or going for a walk in the park. I'd like to do more sport with him as he's a really good swimmer, but he's a bit self conscious about his weight at the moment (having put on about four stone either due to his meds or over-eating).

I think the activities suggested will be good ones for some people, just not everyone - important they don't come across as patronising though, I agree (but I'm sure that wasn't the intention).

[Health professional]

Health professional, on 10 January 2012 - 11:52 AM, said:

I rarely write a blog but i read all your stories and some make me sad, frustrated and bring home the reality of what i do.

Christmas has been a diffcult time for many but it has also been a time for sharing and catching up. This christmas i can tell of two inspiring moments of a brothers and sisters support that inspired me over the festive period.

My first story is how a sister who helps (loves) her poorly brother and she helped us to make christmas presents in her kitchen with four of his new friends who also have psychosis. We made two lots of fudge and we had so much fun. The sister got some lovely paper and wrapped them all up for the boys to take home in little parcels for them to give out on christmas day to their loved ones.

The other is using sport. We really encourage it. Whether its kicking a football or playing badminton it all counts as quality time. More importantly some of the drugs used put weight on and we need to support people in maintaining healthy lifestyles. The story is of two brothers winning a local badminton tournament. I can't go into to much detail but it was a great achievement. We also play football and the brother now comes along even when his brother is at college and supports others.

Good luck to you all

[Health professional]

The thought of patronising people with mental health problems is never any intention of any health care professional. The ideas put forward were to re-enforce the concept that doing anything with a brother or sisiter is a valuable interaction. The issues put forward were their suggestions and we just help faciliate it. Of course we go play pool, go for walks, food shopping, just about anything to help engage and get to understand what the person we care for is going through.

[Health professional]

sweetpea, on 10 January 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

Each to their own I guess. Some people are gonna like sport, some aren't. Some would hate the idea of making fudge, others might really enjoy it. I think it's about finding activities that the person enjoys - sounds obvious I know. But I guess I just try to think about what my brother might like to do with me, rather than thinking 'what's an appropriate activity for an 'ill' person?'

Usually for us, that means going to play pool (and him beating me) or going for a walk in the park. I'd like to do more sport with him as he's a really good swimmer, but he's a bit self conscious about his weight at the moment (having put on about four stone either due to his meds or over-eating).

I think the activities suggested will be good ones for some people, just not everyone - important they don't come across as patronising though, I agree (but I'm sure that wasn't the intention).

[Health professional]

Its sounds to me to your doing a great job with your brother.

Just spending time with your brother is so valuable and I am sure you a make a huge difference to his life.