Over the past few months, occupational therapists, and the volunteering team at South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM) have been working together to launch the Community Transition Volunteer Project.

Volunteers will be supported in their role by occupational therapists from the ward and community to:

• befriend mental health service users during their time on the ward

• attend a community activity (chosen by the service user) for a number of weeks to support their transition back into community settings after being discharged from the ward

• signpost to other services and activities that could benefit the service user

The team at SLAM hope that this additional support to service users will help improve the continuity of care they experience and build their support network within the community, ultimately helping to tackle the revolving door of readmissions.

Please check out the following key resources and if interested in adopting a similar model contact mg@helpforce.community

1. Introduction flyer

2. Inclusion and exclusion criteria – describes which service users are eligible for the support

3. Operating Model – a guide outlining the steps in the service

4. Service user preference form – the form that captures volunteers preferences around volunteers and community activities/interests. This is also used to handover key information to community occupational therapy teams

5. Volunteers first conversation guide – a script volunteers can use in their first meeting with a service user on the ward

This role will be evaluated using our I&I service so watch this space for emerging findings.