We have been helping people for over 35 years with their mental health and wellbeing needs.
An Overview
The information on this page is designed to highlight the important impact that Cygnus Support has on the local community. Over the last year alone, staff at Cygnus managed to see over 1,000 clients. Our Community Link Worker (CLW) Team also managed to exceed their target and provided support to over 700 patients.
We recognise that people’s mental health can be directly affected by many other factors and remain focused on working both directly, and with partners, to design and deliver holistic joined-up client pathways, with no wrong door.
Some of the main presenting issues that our counselling clients come to us about include: Common Mental Health issues (low mood, general anxiety, social anxiety), Confidence and Self-esteem issues, Domestic Abuse, Suicidal Ideations and Relationship issues.
The Figures
Feedback forms our counselling clients completed showed that:
• 70% showed a positive change in managing their mental health.
• 72% reported an increase in confidence.
• 66% reported an improvement in their relationships.
• 62% showed a positive change in their social networks.
One of the main ways that we can measure the progress a client has made throughout their counselling journey, is by using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). This involves ranking a series of statements between 1-5 and then the total score is added up to determine a client’s mental wellbeing. 0-31 points is considered to be very low. 32-40 is below average. 41-59 is average. 60-70 is above average. This is completed before and after a client accesses support. A 3 month follow up assessment is also sent out to clients.
The graph opposite shows the average scores from a sample of WEMWBS conducted over the past year. It shows that the average Mental Health and Wellbeing Score for clients prior to starting counselling was very low, but that it had improved significantly to be within the normal range at the end of counselling. Whilst the follow up assessment was a slightly lower score, it was still significantly higher than the initial assessment - indicating an overall positive outcome.
Our Community Link Workers also collect their own feedback for their Social Prescribing project. They devised a questionnaire of their own consisting of the 5 questions listed below:
- Was your involvement with the CLW a positive experience?
- Did the CLW help you achieve your goal(s)?
- Do you feel happier because of the CLW intervention?
- Do you feel more confident because of the CLWs intervention?
- Would you recommend the CLW Service to others?
These statements were then ranked by patients between 1-5; with 1 representing strongly disagree, 2 representing disagree, 3 representing neither agree or disagree, 4 representing agree, and 5 representing strongly agree.
No patient gave a score of a 1 or 2 to any of the above statements; 100% of respondents said that involvement with the Community Link Work Service was a positive experience and that they would recommend it to others.
In future, the CLW Team plan to verbally complete the questionnaire at each closure conversation in order to ensure a higher response rate.
Client Quotes
This is what our clients have to say about Cygnus:
Information on this page was pulled from our most recent Annual Report. You can read this in full by clicking the button below.
