I am very delighted to announce that last week I received an award from Health & Social Care Alliance Scotland. I was awarded "Self Management Champion of The Year" which was a very humbling experience as I sat in the room and heard about all the amazing work that is happening all across Scotland to champion self-management approaches.
It is no secret that my self-management tool of choice is WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Planning), and that I have been championing WRAP by delivering it all across Scotland. However - WRAP is only one tool amongst many. And what is important is that you find which tool - or combination of tools, that work for you.
I have absolutely no doubt that WRAP works for me as if it didn't I am certain that I would not have collected the award last week or be out and about doing what I am doing in Hope Café Lanarkshire.
You see, I live well now. But I do not live well by chance - I live well by choice. And life isn't perfect. I still have days where my body and/or my mind hurt (often very badly), but something keeps me going. My husband says its my sheer stubbornness (I disagree btw!). I personally think that it isn't one thing that keeps me going. I think it is a combination of many things that keep me well - and more-so keep me going when I feel unwell.
Its passion for what I do, it's the want (almost need) to make a difference for others who may walk the same path behind me, or those who are currently walking it beside me but haven't had the opportunities I have had thanks to WRAP. Its the fact that I want to no longer feel like I'm just treading water every day - I want to feel like I'm living!! My friend got me this magnet that says on it
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways totally worn out shouting 'holy shit..what a ride!!' "
I do personally hope that my body is still well preserved as I work hard at that lol - but you get the message.
The absolutely best thing for me about receiving the award was that it is proof that things are changing. No-one can "champion" anything unless people are willing to engage with what they are championing. So people are engaging with self-management. I don't care if they are engaging with WRAP specifically (although a little bit of support in this area wouldn't go amiss from my own NHS board - hint hint NHS Lanarkshire!!!) What matters to me is that self-management is up there on the agenda with 'the high heid yins' who hold the purse strings.
It is not rocket science that a penny of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but it is taking a while for the penny to drop in the NHS. If we can truly start to give people opportunities to learn about themselves and the conditions they live with, to make informed choices about treatment options and to play an active part in their own health care we are bound to see the benefits. I know that in my case I now no longer feel like I live in my GP surgery and that the receptionists are the only people I speak to on the phone!! There was a time where I had a standing joke with my GP that I should be collecting loyalty points because I was there that often. I now actually quite miss her as she is a pretty fabulous lady.
If I had not been introduced to self-management via WRAP I know that I would be still trooping in and out the GP surgery waiting for her to 'fix' me. Thanks to what I have learnt I am now out there in the community making a difference. And even better than that I am the wife and mum that I always wanted to be but didn't think I could be.
Self-management is not easy - but by gum its worth it!!
D x
