Patients take part in 'come dine with me' activity to encourage self confidence
Patients are being offered the chance to design and cook a meal for their loved ones to boost their confidence and encourage independence.
The Come Dine with Us activity is one of the ways we are supporting adults on our acute mental health wards in Basildon and Rochford to make the transition from hospital back to living independently at home.
Patients design and cook their menu for their invited guests under the close supervision of occupational therapy staff, who also help them source ingredients at their local supermarket and help them budget accordingly.
Staff will also support them to prepare the meal if they need help.
The original idea came from a patient who wanted to cook a traditional meal for her family as part of her recovery process.
She had never previously been well enough to cook for her parents, so being able to achieve this was important to her.
Mel Campan, Occupational Therapy Assistant at Basildon Mental Health Unit, said: “Come Dine With Us is the highlight of every week and is a unique, humbling experience for the staff involved.
“This intervention gives our patients the chance to have the experience that we all take for granted at home of cooking a meal and spending time with loved ones.
“We enable the patient to present their recipe, choose their ingredients, sometimes shop for them too, and then cook the meal in a relaxed environment for friends or family.
“This is a normality for most of us, but something normally unachievable in the ward environment.
“Every patient that takes part has such a good time and the feedback has been extremely positive.”
Staff turn a room at Basildon Mental Health Unit into a ‘restaurant’ and act as waiters, who help serve the meals and drinks.
Feedback from patient’s families and carers have been fantastic.
Christopher Gallagher, an inpatient on Kelvedon Ward who took part in the assessment, invited his parents to enjoy a meal with him.
His parents said: “We really enjoyed a lovely lunch all prepared by our son Chris. We are looking forward to him cooking for us at home.’
“We would like to thank the occupational therapy staff who helped him.”
Chris said: “It was a great experience and I now feel more confident going to the kitchen and cooking, especially pizza. I am also more comfortable around the oven and chopping vegetables.
Come Dine with Us is one of a number of therapeutic activities offered to patients as part of their assessment, treatment and recovery process.