Dorset House is a haven for those who want to help themselves

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 17

Dorset House is a haven for those who want to help themselves

Living alone can be a difficult and sometimes painful experience for many people. David Wray, aged 22, has certainly found this, but David has an additional problem to cope with — he is a schizophrenic who has been hospitalised three times Since 1976. David has been living in a flat with Felix, a 15 year old cat,, for four months, and is quietly confident of his ability to keep coping.

“I look back on the days when I’ve done something for me, and it’s really good,” he said. When David left hospital almost a year ago he was offered two alternatives; he could move into a flat with other former patients, or he could go to live at the newly established Dorset House in Dorset Street. He chose Dorset House, a therapeutic community which provides after-care for up to 16 adults recovering from emotional problems. It is the first half-way house to be established in New Zealand by the Richmond Fellowship, which' has about 50 similar, homes around the world. All the residents have had difficulties functioning in the community. The purpose of their stay at Dorset House was to “force them to socialise and relate to others”within a supportive framework, said the house director, Dave Loveridge. David Wray felt that having too much freedom was partly what led to his last hospitalisation, and" he liked the structured programme that Dorset House offered. “I chose Dorset House because I was really impressed with the discipline of the place,” he said.

Residents of the community are expected to be involved'in paid employment, voluntary work, training or study. They are responsible for all the cooking and cleaning as well as the day-to-day shopping, and they spend two hours each morning in a work group tidying up the house. Three afternoons a week those who are not out working take part in project groups. They might go for a trip to Sumner, or play baseball in the park, but they have to do it with at least one other person. The name of the game is “resocialisation.” Every Monday evening

residents and staff join for a community meeting, which is an opportunity to air views and to make plans; Individuals meet one staff member for an hour’s counselling a week. David Wray stayed at Dorset House for eight months and worked full time for the latter part of that period. He . then decided it was time to leave. "I felt that I’d got to the stage where staying

any longer W'ould have been lazy,” he said. The past four months certainly have not been easy for him. At one point he seriously considered returning to Dorset House. His choice of music during that period was a good indication of his mood he said, pointing out an Elvis Presley album. “That’s a real down record,’ he laughted, “especially ‘ln the Ghetto’.” Now he tries to play

bouncy music when he feels down. “I’ve learned not to worry and to take things as they come,” he said.

Dorset House remains important in his life, and he visits his friends there most weeks. “The best thing about it is that its there if you need help,” he said.

David Wray is a Dorset House “success” — so far. But “success” is a relative term, and the house direc-

tor, Dave Loveridge, pointed out that most of the people who come to Dorset House are chronically ill: they have been in and" out of hospital many times. “Most people leave here a bit better equipped, but not all of them are functioning adequately in the community. One of our main aims is to improve competence and raise selfesteem,” he said. Dave Loveridge and his wife Jeanne have a flat attached to the house. Both have been involved in social work for many years, and they came from Britain in 1979 to help establish Dorset House. It was no small task on a shoe-string budget. A grant from the Mental Health Foundation helped with the initial setting up, and they received a further grant from the Golden Kiwi Lottery fund. So far they have received no money from the Government. In the meantime they manage as best they can. The house is an incongruous mixture of co-

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lonial grandeur and modern shabbiness. It was furnished as cheaply as possible. They still lack a decent freezer, fridges and stoves. The condition of the place was appalling when they first moved in, Dave Loveridge said. One of the bedrooms was riddled with air-gun pellets, and they had to scrape the carpet off the floor. Slowly things are improving — it seems that interior deco-

RUTH NICHOL

1 rating is part of a residential social worker’s job. ■ Lack of staff is a par--1 ticular problem. At pre- : sent there are only three 1 full-time staff, who pro- ! vide a 24-hour coverage. : There should be at least 1 four, but they cannot afford any more. Dorset House works ’ more closely with the es- . tablished health system than most Richmond Fellowship homes in Britain,

Pictures bv DAVID ALEXANDER

Dave said. “We get every backing from Sunnyside and Princess Margaret Hospital.” Future residents must be referred to Dorset House by an accredited agency such as a doctor or the Schizophrenic Fellowship. Most referrals come through the hospiitals. Great care is taken when selecting residents, who spend up to two days“living in” before a deci-

sion is made. Therapeutic communities deliberately place strain on the residents, many of whom find it hard to be independent. “Just living together and having to accept responsibility is stressful for people not used to making their own decisions," said Dave Loveridge. Sometimes that stress can be so great that it causes a psychotic reaction, and the individual

retreats, into his or her own private world. Prospective residents, then, must have a reasonable grasp on reality, but most importantly. they must be prepared to work on themselves. “They have to learn to accept responsibilities and the consequences of their actions.” said Dave. For those who are able to return to the community, it is a case of “leave before you begin to suffer the disease of over-depen-dence.” After nine months, a resident has to produce convincing evidence why he or she should be allowed to stay any longer. Howver, some people will never be able to cope on their own. Dave Loveridge sees the next step as a longer-term Richmond Fellowship home for these people. “There are many people who will have to remain in hospital unless, there is somewhere they 'can live in a mutually supportive environment,” he said. Six months after a resident leaves Dorset House Dave Loveridge looks at the situation and decides whether that person has been “successful.” Some he knows will survive, despite set-backs, while others will inevitably crumple again. Summing up the first vear at Dorset House, he said: “It has been very exciting, but it has also been very frustrating. We live in hope.”