holistic support

Sep

2021

Back to school: Supporting pupil wellbeing online

Almost two years in, you’ve seen how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted your school, pupils, and families. In addition to delivering education support such as pupil counselling, Kineara is undertaking a research project in collaboration with TeacherTapp to identify and explore the needs and challenges facing schools during these uncertain times. The first data set comes from 6,435 schools indicating what type of support they would benefit from in an online/digital format. Below is a snapshot of the results.

Key findings:

Pupil counselling was the most popular form of digital/online support. In particular, this was the top response for teachers working in secondary schools.
Results from both primary and secondary schools reinforced the importance of whole family support and early intervention. Additionally, drop-in support, family sessions, and family therapy were top responses from primary schools.
As expected, there was generally a higher level of support needs identified by schools working in deprived areas compared to their more affluent counterparts. Drop-in support for parents, family sessions, and family therapy were the most popular responses among Q4 (deprived) schools. Notably, however, private secondaries also indicated a high level of need for pupil counselling. This shows that despite the socioeconomic advantage afforded to pupils from more affluent areas, there remains a need to address mental health and wellbeing among all children and young people.
Family sessions and family therapy was the most requested from state primaries (61%), while parents drop-in support was the strongest need among private primaries. Additionally, pupil counselling was the most popular answer among both private secondaries (48%) and state secondaries (59%).

Free resource (limited time only!):

We are really happy to be sharing our free PDF resource containing proven activities to support mental health and wellbeing for primary and secondary school pupils alike. It comes with full instructions, key benefits, and our top tips on adapting our resource to different contexts. We hope you find it helpful!

Download your free resource here

To find out more about our education support in schools or if you have any questions about the above, book a friendly chat with us today. Contact us at: info@kineara.co.uk or call 020 3976 1450.

Jun

2021

Practitioner Insights: Five ways to ease loneliness and disconnection

What is the difference between feeling lonely and being alone? When you feel alone – even around other people – you may be feeling disconnected. Perhaps your needs are not being met, you are not connecting with people on a meaningful level, or you are going through hidden challenges or experiences nobody else knows about. This Loneliness Awareness Week, we share insights on the value of actively listening and connecting to ease loneliness. You can use these tips to ease loneliness and disconnection in yourself and others. As an organisation that provides valuable support, you may also find these insights helpful.

1. Actively listening:

When going through challenges you may feel like your voice isn’t being heard, which can fuel feelings of loneliness, resentment, stress, anger and tension. Making an effort to listen to others – not just listening to give a reply but really actively listening – can be a great starting point for easing these feelings and building a meaningful connection. Sometimes we want to fix everything and give solutions and advice, but for some people real active listening and feeding back what they have said can be even more powerful.

Action: Make an effort to listen –not just listening to give a reply but really actively listening.

2. Meaningfully connecting

When you feel alone even around other people, you may be feeling disconnected. Try connecting with yourself first and foremost to better understand: Why do you feel like this? Do you crave more meaningful relationships? What is your definition of friendship? Are you working through a challenge or trauma in your life? Recognising your feelings may help you decide what you need to do to feel better. If you believe someone close to you may be feeling like this, try strengthening your own relationship with them by setting meaningful time to just talk and be together with no judgement or expectations.

Action: Try connecting with yourself to better understand why you are feeling this way. Set meaningful time with yourself and others to strengthen your relationships.

3. Authentically expressing

It can be difficult to connect with others when you have your guard up or dismiss your own authentic self. This, coupled with societal factors and expectations, can contribute to feelings of disconnection with others and/or in group settings. Try seeking outlets to express yourself such as connecting with close friends and family and/or doing activities that bring you joy. Expressing yourself authentically in a way that you are comfortable with is valuable for your own mental health and wellbeing. Taking some time out to recharge your social meter is important too.

Action: Try seeking different ways and outlets to express yourself like connecting with close friends and family and doing activities that bring you joy. Take time out to recharge your batteries too.

4. Sincerely asking

Asking questions to yourself and others can help to generate better solutions to problems and uncover different challenges. It can also help you remain open, non-judgemental and sincere in supporting yourself and others. “I care about you. Is there anything I can do to help you work through this?” “May I help you find someone who can support you?” “How would you like things to be different?” Remember to check in regularly with yourself too.

Action: Ask open-ended, non-judgmental and sincere questions to generate better solutions to problems and uncover different challenges. Check in regularly with yourself too.

5. Holistically supporting

When you’re talking to someone, it helps to see that person as a system – in that system is a person, their needs, background, parentage, education, culture, faith etc. You’re not seeing a situation or a person as one-dimensional but seeing them in a holistic frame. At Kineara, our support is holistic and tailored to the needs of the individual and family. This means we look at the bigger picture, addressing different challenges they may be facing in life, including issues with rent or housing insecurity, emotional wellbeing, or household needs and relationship. Although holistic working is a specialism, it helps to recognise this approach, be aware of those other issues, and bring in specialist support as needed.

Action: Connect with support services that add value and find out more about holistic support.

Helpful links

Marmalade Trust – A charity dedicated to recognising loneliness, helping people make new friendships and connections, and hosting Loneliness Awareness Week.

Apply For Help – WaveLength – Wavelength has really helped our clients who have been isolated and many have lost everything through homelessness. To be able to listen to music or watch a television has really helped their mental health.

Digital Inclusion Project – Many of us were fortunate enough to get through lockdown with a phone, computer and the internet. But there were many who couldn’t FaceTime or Zoom their friends and family, they had little or no contact with others. Our digital inclusion courses help people gain confidence so that they become digitally independent and connected to the services and networks they need.

Jan

2021

How holistic tenancy support for renters with complex needs is helping to transform lives

Working with the most vulnerable Southern Housing Group customers, Reframe is a holistic support programme for tenants at risk of losing their tenancy, particularly due to high rent arrears or anti-social behaviour. We provide essential support for tenants going through major challenges, from mental and physical health, drug and alcohol misuse, domestic abuse to financial hardship.

Holistic tenancy sustainment, especially through early intervention, is an approach that we’ve been delivering and championing over many years. By working to uncover the root causes of insecure tenancies, and helping to develop relationships between tenants, housing officers, and local/social services, tenants we support can not only sustain their housing but are supported to face other major challenges that have also been affecting their housing, and their lives. We’re currently working with 15 SHG tenants with complex needs and will continue to take on referrals and assess these on a case-by-case basis.

Sonia, Kineara’s Reframe practitioner, said that our service is helping tenants develop more independence, re-engage with services, and start to take control of their own lives. She explained that a number of hard-to-reach clients are “now open to housing service support as they recognise that they need it.” One client, for example, whose home was hoarded, and mental and physical health had begun to deteriorate, “thanked me for being there for him, letting him realise his self- worth, and giving him the confidence to get up and start doing things.” Another client with alcohol addiction and suicidal thoughts has also received ongoing support and a listening ear – a challenging case which would have worsened without the support.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to exacerbate existing hardships and impact vulnerable tenants in acute ways, including a number of tenants we’re supporting being hospitalised with the virus, and others falling behind with rent. There is often not just one reason why rent arrears build up. Reframe’s tailored support, as well as understanding wider issues impacting tenants, is what makes the programme so transformational for the hardest-to-reach.

If you know of an SHG tenant that may benefit from this support, contact: referrals@kineara.co.uk For more information, contact: info@kineara.co.uk or 0203 976 1450

May

2020

Supporting the recovery of our communities

As the impacts of Covid-19 and the lockdowns on our communities are becoming clearer, the inequality in society has been laid bare.

For us and many other organisations working with ‘vulnerable’ people, the reality of life at the sharp end of that inequality has always been acutely challenging, particularly when barriers to secure housing, stable employment, positive mental and physical health, and meaningful connections to community combine.

As a result, many of the impacts we are seeing are not new to us, they are only exacerbated by the unequal effect of both the Covid-19 illness and the lockdowns that have been put in place to contain it.

Supporting your needs

Kineara has broad experience working with people with complex needs to address concerns over housing, mental health, family support, and employment. This support is both practical and emotional, and our practitioners use holistic approaches that can include anything from writing housing applications to counselling sessions.

We also provide consultation and supervision to housing associations and schools, so we can support your own frontline staff to identify and support those people that need more complex care.

We know that many organisations will be at low capacity right now, just when the demand for support is greatest. Whether you are a housing association, school or local authority, you will likely have seen the gaps in provision and the challenges that people in your communities face, as the lack of funding, availability of staff, and the severity of the impacts of Covid-19 on the vulnerable becomes clear.

We can support you to prevent people falling through those gaps.

But we want to hear from you – if you are a school, housing association or local authority, get in touch! There are many ways that we may be able to provide you the support your community needs as we begin to address the effects of the pandemic, including over-the-phone supervision and consultation, trainings, support interventions for vulnerable residents or communities, and more.

Feb

2020

Case studies: Three ways to support children’s mental health

Supporting children’s mental health, developing emotional awareness and improving school motivation are just some of the ways our education support practitioners work holistically with pupils and their families. This Children’s Mental Health Week, we share five proven techniques we have used to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

Holistic and wraparound care

Having delivered our Motivate to Educate (M2E) programme for several years, we’ve seen how a holistic approach can help children and young people overcome challenges in school and out. Our practitioners have found that support pupil’s families and teachers, such as giving them to talk about any challenges they’re facing, has a directly positive impact on pupils.

“Holistic support looks at the bigger picture, addressing other challenges they may be facing in life, including issues with rent or housing insecurity, emotional wellbeing or household needs and relationships,” explains Maria, Director of Kineara.

As for wraparound care this means, “we’re here for the child, we’re here for the parent, we’re here for the teacher, we’re here to care for all aspects of the school, for them to feel healthy and safe and have somewhere to go.”

Exploring pupils’ strengths

Working with pupil’s strengths, our practitioners use a wide variety of tools in tackling worry, anxiety and challenging behaviour in pupils. These include the use of bubble wrap, breathing and relaxation techniques, tailor-made emotion cards and daily post-it notes for both the child and parent to express how they are feeling.

As a young boy who has autism, Talib used tailor-made emotion cards and visuals during M2E to communicate how he was feeling in a way that was helpful to himself and others, especially when he was feeling sad or anxious.

During M2E, Gail also found that Talib loved trains and had the incredible skill of knowing almost every route, so she suggested that dad take Talib on train journeys and make it a reward for him.

“Learning about your pupil/ child and how they think is also a learning for ourselves. We must find new routines, different structures and work hard together to creates some positive changes in school and out”, says Gail.

Strengthening family relationships

Our practitioners found that working closely with the pupils’ family during M2E had a directly positive impact on their wellbeing, emotional awareness and behaviour in school.

In the case of Dayo – who was referred to M2E over concerns for his emotional wellbeing and behaviour in class – we saw how developing family routines and incorporating hands-on activities at home helped reduce problems at school.

As the eldest child of four, Dayo would often feel left out at home which was affecting his schooling. Gail, M2E practitioner, explains that one of the things that helped strengthen family relationships was introducing some cooking time with mum.

“We’ve learnt how to communicate better. I’ve also learnt about having independent one-to-one time with each child,” says Dayo’s mum. What’s more, Dayo’s dad admitted that he never spoke about emotions to the children before, but now he makes sure to praise them and tell them how proud he is.

Join the conversation on Twitter using #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek #FindYourBrave

Want to give your pupils/ children the best start in life? Get in touch with us to discuss how we can work with your school.

Find out more about our education support services.

1. Actively listening:

2. Meaningfully connecting

3. Authentically expressing

4. Sincerely asking

5. Holistically supporting

Holistic and wraparound care

Exploring pupils’ strengths

Strengthening family relationships

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