The THREADS Peer Support Programme has been in place at three prisons across North Dorset and Devon over the last two years. Due to its success, the programme has been extended for an extra year. We have seen several significant benefits that have contributed to the emotional wellbeing of individuals taking part in the programme, as well as prison staff and healthcare workers.
These include:
-
- Self-harm reduction: A 67% decrease in self-harm incidents since peer support interventions were introduced, as reported by Safer Custody at HMP Exeter. (THREADS has contributed to this reduction.)
- An increase in mental wellbeing: An increase in the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) from 20.2 to 26.5 (23.7 is the UK male average). The SWEMWBS is a nationally recognised metric for assessing a population’s mental wellbeing.
- Social Value return: The value per amount invested has been calculated; that for every £1 spent on delivering THREADS, £3.81 in social value is created.
- Safeguarding: An additional key benefit is the additional layer of support the facilitators provide for the operational team. After every session the peer facilitators share any safeguarding information disclosed by those struggling with their emotional wellbeing and at increased risk.
- Decrease in Health Care costs: Engaging with the THREADS Peer Support Programme could alleviate the frustrations that can lead to negative actions resulting in ACCTs, constant watches, bed watches and damage to estate property, which can be costly. When looking at the reduction in self-harm we can ascertain that THREADS has had an impact on the reduction of such costs.
Further information can be found in the THREADS Good Practice Guide.
Feedback from those impacted by the THREADS Peer Support Programme
The most valuable reflection of the positive impact of the THREADS programme has come from feedback received from facilitators, participants and prison staff. Here is a selection of just a few quotes, showing the benefits and effect of this harm reduction programme.
THREADS Facilitators:
“I had someone who was a regular self-harmer. I sat on his ACCT reviews and within two to three weeks he had stopped. We took all the blades out of his room and he stopped self-harming so he could see that this course was beneficial for him.”
“The benefits they get out of it is immeasurable. You’re almost a friend to them. On top of that, some of them sit down and realise they’re at a point where they need to change and they need to stop coming to prison. You can signpost them and pass them on to others and they’ve then started their journey to change. You have to had seen some of the people when they come in; they’re in a terrible condition. Then after, when you see them walking around as a human being again and their prospects are rosy, you know it’s all worthwhile.”“The only challenges that we face as peer supporters, is that obviously we’re all trained on a module to deal with vicarious trauma, where we’ll sometimes find ourselves supporting someone and slowly absorbing that scenario. Once again, it comes back to the training that us guys have had, we’re able to deal with that and what’s also key is once a fortnight we have our THREADS Facilitators meeting between ourselves, the team members and the team staff. So, if we are suffering from any sort of vicarious trauma in that way, then we can offload with our staff who are extremely supportive.”
Peers:
“When I was on an ACCT and I started doing mind maps, I didn’t really have suicidal thoughts anymore, when it used to be every day. Seeing the different mind maps and the different things I’ve managed shows that there’s more to you as a human being and it helped me turn things around.”
“I’ve been in and out of prison since I was about 17, so a lot of my behaviour in the past has ended in violence and things like that. Since coming back in on recall, I had a lot of issues going on on the outside and it obviously helped me a lot having my Peer Facilitator to talk to. I don’t think I would have been in the headspace I am now without that.”
“I actually believe that the trauma I went through in these prison contexts, my outside life and what brought me to prison, the grief, the trauma, all of that could have led me to suicide attempts, being on an ACCT, being on constant suicide watch. Sometimes I was, but at the same time I always worked with it. So, I was very proactive in saying I didn’t self-harm and I haven’t tried to take my own life, thankfully, but that’s because of THREADS.”Prison Staff:
“THREADS has been a really important part of the Care Act plans that we have used to support our complex people, those on constant watches or those who need a little bit more support and guidance. We’ve used THREADS to provide a one-to-one mentor for people that may have never felt like they have needed something like that before and they’ve been really blown away by it, because you’ve got people that want to sit down and help you”.
“You went to a listener if you were having a period of crisis in your life, Buddies were there to help with sort of social care needs and insiders were there to kind of give information about the regime. However, there was never anybody there who knew where you were coming from, who would just be that friend and that support to help you through a difficult time in your life. It was also a massive gap in the market, as it were”.“I think the only similar thing is the Shannon Trust, where we have peer supporters helping other prisoners to read and write. It’s similar in the sense that the peer supporters are trained to deliver that service, but I think THREADS is really helpful because the types of issues the prisoners have, when they’re locked in a cell behind the door and they can’t get answers, builds frustration. That then leads to incidents that lead to them self-harming, to destroying property and they’re all incidents that staff then have to deal with and manage, which takes time away from other prisoners.”
Find out more about THREADS
If you’d like to find out more, please take a look at our THREADS page which includes a number of resources about the programme, or email info@recoop.org.uk.