After the completion of the previous programme and in the follow-up home visit, Sam identifies that he still has problems with cooking and wishes to do something about that. He also identifies that he has problems with his budget and isn’t able to prioritise his spending. Further discussion reveals that Sam has problems with transportation. While he is able to get around if he can drive, he does not currently have a car of his own and has been relying on Angela to take him places he could easily get to using public transport. The fact is that he has no idea how to use public transport.

After your home visits with Sam, observation of how he was managing and further discussion, you and Sam agree on a number of areas that he would benefit from learning more about. These include:

money management
transportation
cooking.

Sam has agreed to re-engage with rehabilitation to address these specific issues. Although this information could be presented individually, you decide that a group programme would be more appropriate for Sam. You base this decision on Sam’s current situation. Factors you consider include:

isolation
lack of friends and connection
difficulty with basic living skills.

You decide that Sam would be better off attending a group programme where he could mix with other young people who are experiencing similar problems. Attending a group programme will provide Sam with the opportunity to make friends and to learn from other people about some of the issues that they have experienced and some of the possible solutions they have found.

Money managing/budgeting group

A group that focuses on money management/budgeting can teach people skills in the areas of:

identifying priorities for money usage such as buying food, medication, paying rent, having money for leisure activities, etc.
identifying their own spending habits
setting goals for how they will spend their money
developing a budget
exploring savings plans.

It is hoped that through the group, the group members would develop their own budget. Another outcome would be the sharing of ideas about how to budget and any strategies that they have identified that have helped in the past. Often it is not the knowledge of the practitioner but the sharing of ideas by group members that assists people in developing and trying new strategies. A secondary outcome of the group is the interaction of group members and the friendships that may develop.

The programme could be delivered on an individual basis but the sharing and developing of friendships would not then occur.

Session 1: Introducing the group

What the group is about.
Warm-up activity (for examples of warm-up activities, see Chapter 11 and Box 13.1).
Identifying priorities and values.
Lead discussion around what activities constitutes self-improvement, family life, special interests, study and leisure.
Use of a worksheet where participants are asked to rate the following, with 1 being their greatest priority: self-improvement, family life, special interests, study and leisure.
Group discussion: exploring priorities and relevance of these to individual or family wants and needs. Also discuss how they make decisions around the expenditure of their money.
Do they consider that they have problems concerning the items purchased?
Is this something they would like to work on?
Ask group members to identify any problem areas.
Cooldown activity (for examples of cooldown activities, see Chapter 11 and Box 13.2).
Homework activity: keep a diary of all expenditures for the week and rate their priority.

Session 2: Awareness of spending habits

Warm-up activity.
Use a worksheet which outlines spending habits.
After completion of the worksheet, there is a group discussion about participants’ spending style, e.g. considered, spur of the moment, easily talked into, ask others, etc.
Evaluation of participants’ spending style by reviewing the homework activity and have people consider why they spent what they did.
Discussion as to whether there are issues they are willing to address.
Identify ideas for making changes in this area and share with the group.
Cooldown activity.
Homework: continue to keep diary of spending. Note transaction details, e.g. cash, credit, direct debit, bill paying, etc. Note spending style for each transaction. Also consider priority of item purchased.

Box 13.1 Warm-up exercises

Exercise 1 – Tissue exercise	Group members to pretend they have a cold. Group members to pull out enough tissues to use for one day with a cold. Then taking turns, members share one thing about self for each tissue taken, e.g. favourite colour, food, animal, music, interests, etc.
Exercise 2 – My horoscope	Tell group you are drawing an imaginary line down the middle of the room with January at one end of the room and December the other. Ask the group to line up on the line in order of month and date of birth. Group members to read out their own horoscope to the group.
Exercise 3 – A famous person	Taking turns, ask group members to identify a famous person, e.g. film star, author, singer, etc. that they admire and give reasons why they admire that person.
Exercise 4 – Find the change	Ask group for a volunteer. Ask that person to go outside and change something about their appearance, e.g. undo more buttons, turn hat around, etc.When the person returns, the group is to identify the changes. If time allows, repeat exercise.
Exercise 5 – Auction	Items to be auctioned are placed in the middle of the group. Member volunteers to be the auctioneer and choose the item and auction it off to the group.
Exercise 6 – Mirrors	Members to find themselves a partner, whom they feel at ease with. Members to face each other and make eye contact and try and maintain it throughout. One member moves a part or parts of body very slowly, while the other tries to mirror the motion. The pair then switches roles. Provide an opportunity for group to discuss any feelings they may have experienced.
Exercise 7 – Feelings	Hand out a sheet of paper to all group members. Ask them to draw how they are feeling today. Discuss as a group.
Exercise 8 – Rhythm cycle	Explain to the group that they will be making music using noises they can make using their bodies. One member starts off making a sound, then going around the circle, the group joins in one at a time, until all members are making music.After a short time, members stop making their own music one by one, with the person who started the music finishing first.
Exercise 9 – Chinese whisper	Members sit in a circle. One member is asked to think of a sentence or phrase and whisper it in the ear of the person sitting next to them. This continues until the last person repeats out loud the message heard and compares it to the original message.
Exercise 10 – Non-verbal communication	Group to form into pairs. Ask members to have a conversation using drawing with coloured crayons. Pairs to share one piece of paper.

Box 13.2 Cooldown activities

Activity 1	Taking turns, group members are asked to identify one thing they like/admire about another group member’s appearance.
Activity 2	Explain to members that you will be calling out certain personal traits, e.g. find someone with the same coloured eyes as you have, find someone with the same coloured hair as you have. Members are to find and stand with a person with whom they share these characteristics.
Activity 3	Write the word ’friend’ on the board and ask group members to identify different words they can make out of this word.
Activity 4	Group members are given a sheet of paper. They write their name on the sheet and then pass their sheet to the person next to them. This person writes a compliment about the person whose name is on the sheet. This continues until all group members have a written compliment on all sheets. Taking turns, group members then read out the compliments written on their sheet.
Activity 5	Group members to share an experience with the group that they once felt embarrassed about, but have learnt from that experience and can look back and laugh.
Activity 6	Hand out a sheet of paper and pens to each person. Ask members to tear the sheet of paper so that they have the same number of pieces as there are people in the group. Participants write the names of fellow group members on each piece of paper and then a gift or wish they would like to give that person. When everybody is finished, ask members to give their slips of paper to the appropriate person. Each person is then invited to read out their collection of gifts.

Session 3: Setting goals

Warm-up activity.
Discussion centring on what goals serve as a guide to spending.
Have a collection of catalogues containing items for purchase such as furniture, food, clothing, music and entertainment, travel, etc. (junk mail would be useful). Ask participants to look at the catelogues and then write down all the things they would like that money can buy.
Ask them to identify which of these are important for the person now and what is important for the future.
Discussion: consider homework and have participants identify how important each of the items is to them. Have participants think about what their goals are with regard to their spending. Invite participants to share two of their short-term goals.
Ask participants to identify if these are realistic in terms of their income and expenses.
Check with them about whether they think their family would agree with them.
Ask participants to discuss how they might reach some of these goals.
Cooldown activity.
Homework: collect up last month’s bills and bring them in for the next session.

Session 4: Identifying monthly expenses

Warm-up activity.
Give participants a worksheet for them to list their expenses and the approximate amount they spend. Have the participants also include the bills they have brought in for homework.
Discussion: do participants live within their income, what are their problem areas, which expenses do they think they can cut down on, are they able to meet any short- or long-term goals with their present spending pattern, how can this be changed?
Explore some of the cheaper options for shopping, e.g. charity shop for clothing, home-band food items.
Cooldown activity.
Homework: participants source cheaper options for themselves in all areas listed in session 1, e.g. walk instead of catching the bus if they don’t have far to go.

Session 5: Making a budget

Warm-up activity.
Discuss that an important aspect of setting up a budget is identifying which expenses are fixed and which are flexible.
Ask participants to identify what their fixed expenses are.
Then get them to identify their flexible expenses. Ask the group to assist with ideas about how these can be cut down. Consider some of the options they have come up with in the homework activity.
Discuss the issue of the next time you feel the urge to buy and ways to counter this. Ask questions such as:
- Will I be pleased with my purchases?
- Am I able to afford this?
- Do I want to spend my money on this right now?
- Why am I really buying this?
- Am I OK with my reasons for making this purchase?
Cooldown activity.
Homework: work up an individual budget considering all fixed expenses and changing expenses. Consider a realistic saving goal for each week and identify a goal to save for.

Session 6: Resources and requirements

Warm-up activity.
Discussion centring around the resources of clients, i.e. time, money, energy, ability, knowledge, equipment.
Discussion then focuses on knowing individual requirements, i.e. how will it be used, how long will it last, what features are the most important, what quality is necessary? Review homework and have each participant share the goal that they will attempt to save for.
Cooldown activity.

Conclusion

Although the programme outlined here is designed for a group, it is possible to use much of the content and resources to conduct the session individually with Sam. If your client lives with their parents, you could also include them in the sessions. It is most important that the person is encouraged to do the homework sessions as this will give the facilitator a good idea of how the client is progressing and will also provide some additional information to work with in the subsequent session.

Transportation

Sam has difficulty getting to his rehabilitation programme and with attending appointments. As the area is well serviced by trains, trams, buses and ferries, you and Sam discuss where he needs to go and what would be the best form of transportation to get him to those places. It appears that the bus would be suitable for the things that Sam needs to do. Depending on what transportation is required, the programme would focus on that. This particular programme is conducted individually although it could be conducted in a group format. The number of sessions is flexible and depends on the client’s level of skill and confidence in being able to access public transport. It will be necessary for the facilitator to have good knowledge about where transport information can be found. For example, this would include the local bus depot, information provided at major bus stops, information provided via the telephone or local transportation websites.

A programme devoted to exploring public transport options focuses on developing skills in the areas of:

exploring timetables, maps and the use of the internet to find information
planning and scheduling activities and transport.

The objective of the programme is to build skills that will assist the person to plan an outing and then use public transport to get there.

Session 1: Introducing the programme

Getting baseline information from the participant and determining the most suitable form of transport to use.
Has he ever used public transport? Or is it a skill that has become rusty with disuse? Is he uncomfortable in the presence of strangers?
What does the participant need to access?
How many times per week?
Does he think he can budget for this?
Check what he would like to achieve by the end of the programme (goals).

Session 2: Bus timetables and maps

You may need to repeat this session a number of times for the person to feel comfortable accessing transport. It is best to focus it around places that the person needs to go and at similar times to when he will be going.

Review public transport maps.
Work out the route that the participant needs to take in relation to the goals identified in the first session.
Look at the time that it would take to use the bus to get to a set location.
Go to the bus shelter and look at the bus shelter timetable.
Having made sure that the participant has sufficient money for the fare, model how you would go about hailing and riding the bus, and exiting the bus.
This exercise will probably need to be repeated several times.

Session 3: Library – internet public transport website

Arrange to visit the public library.
Access the computers at the library and show the participant how to access the internet.
Access the internet translink site and look at the timetables.
Decide on a route and time you need to access the bus.
Arrange to go on a bus ride – have the participant independently hail the bus, apply for the fare and exit at the agreed location. If you think the participant needs support and encouragement, accompany him on the bus trip.

Session 4: Planning and scheduling

Look at the days and times when the participant needs to go to his groups, appointments and shopping.
Organise the bus timetable schedule.
Get the participant to independently access this transport.
Arrange to meet the participant at an agreed place to check that he has managed this task independently.
This activity should be repeated several times until the participant is confident with accessing public transport by himself.

Cooking

The other issue that Sam had difficulty with was preparing meals so he has now been enrolled in a cooking programme, a follow-on programme from Food for Life (see Chapter 12). In the Food for Life programme, there is an emphasis on the food groups, a need for physical activity every day, being able to plan and buy meals, and budgeting for healthy eating. In each group session, there is revision of the food pyramid and of the Kilo Cent$ counter (addressed in Chapter 12). The actual food that is prepared depends on the choices made by the group participants. Recipes should go in folders that participants can take home but must bring back for each session. All group sessions follow a similar plan. The following sessions and food recipes are suggestions only. The group need to select their own themes, for example special occasions like birthdays, Valentines Day, Easter, and recipes that are nutritious, easy to prepare and are in keeping with whatever theme has been chosen. It is unlikely that people will have a well-equipped and spacious kitchen but the basic equipment, e.g knives, bowls, spoons, cutlery, plates, saucepans and baking dishes, should be available.

Cooking Up a Storm

This group programme focuses on the development of the following skills.

Understand the basis of nutrition.
Plan a daily menu that is nutritious and considers their food preferences.
Budgeting for food purchases and learning shopping skills including comparative shopping and understanding food labels.
Food preparation and hygiene (including hand washing, use of cooking utensils and storage of food).
Learning to work as a team for the production of the meal.
Social skills involved in sharing a meal.

The programme could be done individually but the person would not receive the benefit of interaction with others.

Recipes for this programme could be collected from the internet, recipe books or magazines. They could even be family recipes that have been handed down. It is important for people to have a copy of the recipe to take away with them as it is more likely that they will cook the food again if they can access the recipe easily.

Session 1: Introduction

Warm-up activity: using pictures of food, revise the food pyramid (see Chapter 12) by having participants place the food on the pyramid where they belong.
Explain the purpose and goals of Cooking Up a Storm. Explain that the group will be shopping, preparing the food, eating and cleaning up after the meal.
Have participants identify themes for each of the following sessions, e.g. winter meal, summer meal, special occasion, international, etc. Once themes have been decided by the group, they then select recipes for the following week including either an entrée or dessert and a main meal. These recipes are kept in folders which the participants can take home.
Cooldown: revise the Kilo Cent$ counter (in Chapter 12) and how to compare prices and how to read nutritional lists.

Session 2: Winter

Irish stew and bread rolls.

Warm-up activity: prepare shopping list.
Review where all food items sit on the food pyramid.
Go shopping and while shopping, use the Kilo Cent$ counter (see Chapter 12) to assist in making appropriate purchases.
Return to kitchen. Form working teams to complete each food item. The bread rolls will have been purchased. Prepare food and eat. Between courses, consider how much was spent and how that fits with the 10-part shopping plan (see Chapter 12).
Clean up. Revise theme and recipes for next week.