During my career as a general nurse, I encountered many patients with substance use issues and always felt there was a stigma attached when they presented in an acute medical setting. I educated myself around substance use and how it can affect the lives of the patients and their families. After learning about common barriers in treatment, I wanted to make a difference and improve the care and outcomes of this marginalised group of people.
In July 2023 I started my current role as a homeless outreach nurse with Kaleidoscope. Kaleidoscope runs substance use projects across Wales and supports over 10,000 people a year. It has been interesting to witness firsthand how pivotal these services are to the lives of the people we treat. It’s been so refreshing working for Kaleidoscope to see how agile they are in their approach to substance use and how they collaboratively work in partnership with Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS), Dyfodol, G4S and the local authority.
My role with Kaleidoscope and CAVDAS in Cardiff (Rapid Access Prescribing) allows me to support entrenched street homeless individuals into opiate replacement therapy and raise motivation to address wider social and health issues. My role is mainly outreach based and I attend client’s temporary accommodation, residences and community centres to be flexible around the client and build therapeutic relationships, which I feel is innovative and addresses traditional barriers to accessing services.
The role can be extremely challenging, especially with the increased number of people accessing our services due to the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.
Towards the end of last year, the team came up with a plan to make a small difference to the lives of our clients at Christmas. We provided care packages to our most vulnerable service users, which included personal hygiene products, warm essentials, protective clothing and emergency contact/helpline numbers in case they needed help or someone to talk to over the festive period.
My colleagues and I used social media to request the help of friends, which resulted in hundreds of people coming forward to help. People donated warm clothing such as hats, scarves and waterproof jackets, and some families donated their own personal care packages, which include sweets and chocolate. Some went the extra mile and bought pet food and treats for our service users’ pets. Following on from this success, we then requested help from community champions in supermarkets to help with the care packages.
We worked tirelessly to sort through donations and provide our clients with a little bit of comfort and joy this Christmas. The response we had was amazing and we were overwhelmed with all the help and support we received from the public; it really shows what we can achieve when a community pulls together to bring Christmas spirit to the most vulnerable in society.
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