Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!114 | Case Study 8Case Study 8:IceBreak, The Zone, PlymouthMission statement“To assist young people in living healthy, secure andsatisfying lives, by enabling and supporting them inmaking informed choices.”Overview of the serviceThe Zone was established in 1990 and provides a widerange of services delivering holistic support in thePlymouth area to around 5,000 young people a year.Services are available six days a week and divide intothree main areas: community, education and health.The health stream concentrates on mental healthsupport and initially consisted of a counselling service.In the year 2000, the Insight project was establishedto deal specifically with young people having theirfirst experience of psychosis aged between 14and 25. However, there was still a lack of supportfor those young people who were experiencingemotional distress without psychosis, in particularthose who could be labelled as having a personalitydisorder. Although many of these young people wereaccessing the drop-in service, the need for morestructured, targeted and long-term support led to theestablishment of the IceBreak project in 2004.An early intervention service, IceBreak supportsyoung people aged 16 to 25 who are experiencingemotional and behavioural problems such asself-harm, depression, attachment issues andsuicidal tendencies. Support is mainly deliveredthrough a wide range of group work, coveringthree areas: expressive, such as art groups; personaldevelopment, which include physical activities likerock climbing; and emotional literacy groups whichcombine dialectical behaviour therapy, which is usedwith adults diagnosed with personality disorders,and a group programme developed by the Foyer (avoluntary sector organisation) to help young peopledevelop skills for living.To gain funding for the project, the Zone went intopartnership with Plymouth Primary Care Trust; theywere successful in gaining Department of Healthfunding for the first 18 months of the project. Theproject has now secured funding until March 2008.Service development work carried out as part ofthe Mental Health Foundation projectOne of the main areas of development has been onthe group work programme. A range of groups arerun at the Zone in Plymouth and funding from theMental Health Foundation has been used to pay forequipment and other resources, and to run activitiesand fund trips.A second stage of this was the commissioning of anevaluation of the group work programme duringearly 2006. The survey included questionnairescompleted by young people using the groups,young people who were accessing other parts of theZone, and staff. In addition, interviews were carriedout with staff and young people, documentationreviewed, and groups observed. A full report waswritten up with recommendations, including: theongoing consultation of young people within thisprogramme; the development of a standard meansof assessing and evaluating groups; the need foradditional funding to support groups work includingfacilities; changes in timeslots for certain groups toimprove attendance; and the need for a group workco-ordinator.Service catchment areaThe city of Plymouth, plus Tavistock and Ivybridge,form the catchment area for the project.