RNIB launch new service to help reach out during the Covid crisis

In response to the Covid-19 crisis sight loss charity RNIB has introduced Emergency Mental Health Sessions for blind and partially sighted people - and it’s really helping.

RNIB’s Helpline is receiving an increasing number of calls relating to mental and emotional support. In response, Need to Talk – a counselling and confidence building service from RNIB in Northern Ireland and Scotland, has introduced the Emergency Mental Health Sessions to offer crucial emotional and mental support for blind and partially sighted people during this unprecedented time.

Amanda Hawkins, specialist lead for counselling and wellbeing at RNIB, explains: “This is essentially an emotional support triage service for blind and partially sighted people in lockdown. It isn’t counselling, it’s a platform for people to talk to someone about their fears and worries right now, whether that’s around their eye health, feeling isolated or any other lockdown-related anxiety they may be experiencing.”

Amanda continues: “Many people with sight loss already report on issues with isolation, we think that the impact of coronavirus increases this sense – perhaps removing the ability to connect with people on a regular basis. When we feel isolated, feelings of worries and anxiety tend to grow and become stronger in our lives and this can affect how we are feeling about ourselves.

“The Emergency Mental Health Sessions are here to help people talk about some of the issues that are affecting them. These might be fear of leaving the house, worries about access to food, and being anxious about normal life.”

Miguel Wiggans, a Need to Talk counsellor, said: “I recently took a call from a lady and as it unfolded, it was predominantly about her anxiety around family and the distancing going on. She was frustrated and feeling isolated.

“She was very unwell with other complications and was housebound but the most significant thing for her was that she had a breakdown a few years ago, and she said the way she was feeling recently, particularly after a complicated benefit claim issue, was the same.

“She couldn’t go out for up to five months and couldn’t hug her family. She recently lost her second guide dog too. She told me what she needed, I just listened to her. We looked at plan and strategies for her to deal with this stress and it just took time as she had a lot to offload.

“I felt she needed that; she wanted to be listened to. I followed her lead and it worked. She seemed to get what she needed and what was important was those little tools and tips to move forward in the right direction. She was at her most isolated and she just need someone to listen.”

Amanda explained that, just like the majority of RNIB services currently, teams have been making wellbeing calls to check how people are doing.

She said: “We’ve been reaching out to everyone to say, ‘hey – how are you?’ and people have been so grateful and have said, ‘you’re the only person who has called me in the last four weeks’; or people are emotional on the phone because ours is the first human voice they’ve heard in a while.

“Initially, calls were about shopping and food, then eye health queries, now its emotional support and people have a fear of losing their sight or isolation/loneliness.

“Coronavirus affects all of us – but there are particular issues for people with a visual impairment. Again, isolation being enhanced during this period, as well as a sense of uncertainty. These Emergency Mental Health Sessions will give almost immediate access to someone to talk to about fears and concerns. They provide one off access to a counsellor who can help them find strategies to help cope.”

Gill Jackson from Moira previously availed of RNIB’s Need to Talk counselling service and feels the new emergency mental health slots will really help a lot of people.

Gill said: “Need to Talk was a great way for me to discuss how I was feeling from week to week and having somewhere to be totally honest and open about difficulties and fears.

“I personally found that it helped me to highlight and recognise any anxieties that were mixed up in day-to-day life and causing unnecessary stress. Once I became aware of these, it was much easier for me to find practical ways to work through them.

“It made it so much easier when talking to someone from outside my normal life. I always try to look on the positive side of life and be upbeat and I don’t like to complain or be gloomy, so it was a great relief having someone specifically to help me highlight things that were making me anxious and find ways to overcome them.”

Sharon McClure, an RNIB community access support worker from Larne, said that in the current circumstances people are very grateful for any help you can provide them with. “We’re on the phone with people constantly. We have set up Zoom clubs so there is morning coffee, book clubs, afternoon tea, different speakers, craft classes, writing classes, relaxation classes, quizzes, a whole host of things.

“We’ve developed conference calls and more and more people are signing up to those. I am continuing mostly with one-to-one telephone calls, a wellbeing call, and for some people that might be the only call they receive all day.

“Loneliness is a big thing. For blind people this is often a feature of their daily lives, not simply under lockdown. Kindness doesn’t cost a thing and showing a wee bit of empathy and understanding goes a long way. A simple phone call can let people know they are valued and appreciated. I’m dealing with emotional as well as practical needs. So it might just be ‘where can I get shopping locally?’ Sometimes I will phone shops and ask them to put in orders for people and deliver them to their homes because they can’t get out.

“So I might just be making sure someone can access food from their supermarket or medicine from their pharmacy, or I might simply be the voice at the other end of the phone that hopefully brightens somebody’s day.

“Further good news is that Need to Talk is also sourcing additional assistance from external counsellors they have trained over the duration of the project, so that the counselling needs of blind and partially sighted people can be met faster during this particular period. The appreciaton I receive from the wellbeing calls I make is second to none.”

Robin Manson is a member of the RNIB NI’s committtee as well as chair of the East Antrim Visually Impaired Group.

He said: “My eyesight started to go 25 years ago. I was a teacher. Eventually it was a real struggle marking so when I reached the age of 60 I stopped.” Aged 77 now, Robin, who lives in Carnmoney, does much for RNIB including phoning a lot of people to do one-to-one counselling, He has been isolating with his wife since March 12 and his whole mission as an RNIB member is keeping people coonnected in the midst of this pandemic.

“Some people are isolated in one room flats and just feel demoralised. Our group find it so important to ring around checking everything is OK and people have what they need.”

Robin has been putting in his days growing raspberries in the garden with his wife’s help, with the limited sight that he still has.

“Our vision as an organisation is really about making things as easy as possible for blind people. Today we are reliant on phone calls, and for the more tech-savvy on things like Whatsapp and Zoom, although a lot ofpeople can have real difficulties weith this and still perfer the traditional phone call.

“I have a group of older ladies across the province with whom I have a conference call every week. We chat about all sorts of things and it really lifts people’s spirits.”

Anyone who is affected by sight loss can ask for an emergency mental health session by phoning the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999, or by emailing: [email protected].