Dom has become the first person in Cornwall to have completed the BILD Reducing Restrictive Practice Diploma as part of his Restraint Reduction Lead role with Aspire.
Erin and Jon successfully joined our ARC (physical Intervention) training team, completing the arduous 5 day course with b-inspired up in Bury. Erin is a person with lived experience of being held, and is able to describe to our teams what it is like for the individual when they are restrained in a state of distress.
Together Erin, Dom and the ARC team spend a lot of time making sure that our teams are skilled and safe when a restraint is required, but more importantly why we must do everything we can to not need it.
We carefully monitor our use of restraint as a last resort, as we recognise the enduring trauma it represents for people, ultimately increasing risk and distress every time it’s used. Between 2024 and 2025 we supported one very special individual to withdraw all of his daily medication prescribed for ‘behavioural control’ and replace restraint with amazing art work and inflatable dinosaurs. We believe communication, play and compassion are powerful vehicles to support someone to have agency and fun in their lives.
So for the next 12 months we want to continue developing our understanding of trauma and the roles we play in a person’s recovery and take a closer look at the medications that the people we support are prescribed to make sure they improve wellbeing.