Lois Cameron

The thing is, we all have stories don’t we?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on “Finding the sparkle: storytelling in the lives of people with learning disabilities”, Nicola Groves paper highlighting the power of the story as one approach to empower people with intellectual disability. Design/methodology/approach – This commentary reflects on the power of personal story sharing as a way to empower people with intellectual disability, value their experience and promote inclusion. Findings – Personal stories are important because they help both ourselves and others understand who we are. Stories are not static and stories can be told from different perspectives. Telling stories can be protective and healing. Originality/value – Communication that develops social closeness is important and can be undervalued. There needs to be a greater focus on ensuring people without words can tell their stories and on services recognising the importance of this.

More than pictures: developing an accessible resource

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of developing an accessible communication resource which enables people with a learning disability to reflect on their lives and raise issues of concern. Design/methodology/approach The process of making the resource and the facets that contribute to making it accessible are explored, e.g. design specification, the relationship between pictures and meaning, the order in which concepts are presented. The paper goes on to describe how the resource is put into practice using the format of a “Talking Mat”.® Talking Mats is a communication framework which has a strong evidence base that shows it improves the quality and quantity of information a person with a learning disability gives in a conversation. It provides practitioners with a consistent framework to support implementation. The impact of using the resource is explored through feedback from practitioners trained to use it and the stories that resulted. Findings A well-constructed resource can support people with a learning disability to express their views on what matters to them at a specific time and raise concerns they may have. The individual views that have emerged from people are varied. This resource enabled them to be genuinely included in planning the steps required to bring about positive change in their lives. Originality/value There is much emphasis on the development of accessible resources in the field of learning disability but little on the actual development process and the context of how resources are introduced. This paper aims to contribute to this knowledge base.

P-12 Talking mats: an approach to support conversations in a hospice setting

Background Professionals who work in palliative care settings strive to provide person centred care (NICE, 2011). Finding out what is important to patients and families is core to this (Henry, 2015). People who use hospices often have specific difficulties communicating their thoughts and feelings because of advanced illness and emotional factors. Talking Mats is a visual framework which has been shown as an effective method to enable people to express their views, especially when their ability to communicate is compromised, for example because of cognitive, physical or emotional difficulties (Murphy et al., 2013; Murphy & Boa, 2012; Murphy, 2009). Aims We aimed to introduce and use Talking Mats in a hospice setting and to develop a symbol set to support conversations relating to Advance Care Planning (ACP). Methods Sixteen staff from the multidisciplinary team were trained to use Talking Mats and successfully used it with patients in the hospice. A sub-group of staff attended a workshop to discuss the potential use of Talking Mats to support conversations relating to ACP. Topics and options were agreed. These were then presented to a wider forum of staff from another Hospice for validation and checking. Three main topics to support ACP conversations were identified: Affairs; Care and Personal Values and are currently being trialled with a range of patients in the hospice setting. Results Staff trained in the use of Talking Mats found that they could use it with a range of patients for a variety of purposes: getting to know someone; identifying goals; discharge planning and enabling ACP discussions. Conclusion Talking Mats can be used by trained staff in a hospice setting to support people to express their views and help them plan for the end of life.