Breaking it Down
Talking about our health can be difficult to do; telling employers sensitive and private information can be especially so. This session, we broke this problem down into the what, why, where, how and who of disclosing health needs to potential employers so that STARTwork members can make an informed decision about having that conversation.
Disclosing health needs can allow for reasonable adjustments to be made, which will make it possible to do our jobs as effectively as the next person. However, it's a daunting prospect- fears of a negative reaction and being perceived differently can put the brakes on such a conversation.
We discussed practical ways of coping with this- from focusing job searches to 'Disability Confident' employers to being assertive and ways of busting some myths about mental health conditions.
Attitudes towards mental health difficulties do seem to be changing and we can all do something to contribute towards this, which in turn helps reduce stigma that may be encountered in our everyday activities, such as work. The STARTwork sessions take place in The Make Space, which is an empty shop in Walkden Town Centre. With the help of Derwent, the owners, we've turned this unit into a new studio. Having such a visible place in an everyday setting has sparked some great conversations with passers by about mental health and raises awareness to everyone who visits the centre.
The group welcomed back Caroline Coates in the afternoon for their first session of screenprinting. Choosing another local building, each member of the group created a stencil that will be used next week to make a print. Turning an image into a stencil involves a bit of thinking differently to deconstruct the buildings- looking at negative space, deciding which details to highlight and planning ahead by imagining what the printed image will look like. By the end of the session, we had some distinctive local landmarks to get messy with next week...
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