Helping people back into work (From Somerset County Gazette)

Helping people back into work

1:00pm Wednesday 17th June 2009

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A SCHEME set up to help people in Somerset get back into work is celebrating its fifth birthday in July.

Somerset’s Condition Management Programme is a joint partnership between Jobcentre Plus and the NHS.

It was set up to help people receiving Incapacity Benefit and the new Employment and Support Allowance, who wish to return to work.

In Somerset, CMP is delivered by a team of health professionals working for the NHS across the county. They help people through a wide range of options under the ‘Pathways to Work’ scheme.

A CMP spokesman said: “Getting back into the routine of a job can be a daunting task for anyone who has been out of work for a prolonged period, whatever the reason.

“It is not just the physical symptoms that cause barriers, but also a lack of confidence, the need for new skills and the necessary empowerment to manage their condition on their own.”

Tony Feierabend, 49, of Somerset, has used the service.

In February 2008, Tony’s Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisor referred him to CMP where his personal practitioner worked with him to set a range of goals to help him manage his health condition and start meaningful activity.

He signed up for a number of groups dealing with issues such as healthy lifestyles, pacing and goal setting, communication and assertiveness skills, introduction to health in the work place and also specific modules on depression, anxiety, and pain.

And now, Tony is starting to meet people again – he is learning German at evening classes and most recently has started volunteer work helping take a group of adults with learning difficulties to Heaven’s Gate Animal Shelter, near Langport, Somerset.

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