25 Aug 2022
DK is a 54-year-old male of Greek origin who came to Bruce Grove in 2014 and was our first resident.
His assessment highlighted areas that were related to his social interaction, paranoia, and aggressive outbursts. This created problems for him, and he would often withdraw from social interaction or would become frustrated which would manifest in outbursts of aggression. Left unchecked, his social isolation would trigger bouts of paranoia further escalating negative behaviour.
The team at Bruce Grove developed a plan of social inclusion and structured activities, one of which was to develop his IT skills which he had expressed interest in before during his Key working sessions. This would require him to take an IT course at a local learning centre. This would require a lot of support from the team at Bruce Grove and commitment from DK.
The first step was to complete an application form. The team supported him through this, helping him with his anxieties and encouraging him throughout these first steps. Once accepted on the course DK became apprehensive and his fears of social interaction raised his level of paranoia when he realised that he would need to attend the course physically, but the staff assured and supported him continuously. A plan was put into place where a member of staff would accompany him on the course.
DK attended the course and to his surprise found himself one of the top students. This gave him newfound confidence and social acceptance. A massive change was clear in him. Fear was replaced with confidence and a smile. This boosted the whole team. Seeing their work shine through in this way was extremely rewarding. DK became better adapted to social interaction on many other levels and the team continues to develop this today.
DK and the team continue to work on other areas together. One of which is his inability to manage his finances. Input from social services and the Team have arranged a plan to support him with budgeting his finances.
Another plan was put in place to further develop his social interaction which included food shopping trips. The team identified this through 1-1 discussions and Key working sessions and worked with him to develop this into a positive experience and are confident that he can once again manage this area of his life also.