Radio program: “Ens patina l’embrague”

Spain

Drissa Foundation

Av. Sant Narcís, 22 baixos 17005 Girona, SPAIN Phone: (+34) 972249344 Email: administracio@fundaciodrissa.com http://www.fundaciodrissa.com

Private

Broadcasting of a life weekly radio program from the public local radio station of Salt, Ràdio Salt, near Girona. The program is then broadcast recorded in two other public local radio stations: Ràdio Vilamalla and Ràdio Sarrià.
It is a magazine with different sections. Content include all kind of information, where mental disability is always present in the background. One of the sections is a call centre, where people interested can give their opinions, which helps other people with mental disorder express themselves. Another example: every 2/3 weeks there is a section called “voices” where the participation of people from the psychiatric hospital is granted.
The aims are:
• Helping avoiding people stereotypes towards people suffering from Psychosis or Severe Personality Disorder.
• Improve teamwork values as solidarity, effort, collaboration, respect and social abilities in general.
This activity is actually part of a pre-labour service which aims at improve labour abilities towards the future labour inclusion. So the main goal of the radio program is the labour inclusion.

Use of the radio programme as a therapeutic tool is rather unique. The only other radio programme with similar aims are Radio Colifata in a Mental Health Institution in Argentina.The organisation is a pioneer in consolidate this activity in Catalonia, which then have been implemented in other parts of Catalonia and Spain. Some examples are: Ràdio Nicosia, Ràdio Mahausen, etc.

The effectiveness of this activity as for accomplishing the aims is about 31,73% of broadcaster’s inclusion in a Work Special Centre, which is a remarkable figure taking into account the type of disability. Some of them then can enter the ordinary labour market, although it is not very usual.

The level of satisfaction with the pre-labour service in which the radio program is included is really high: 85,88%.

Information about the project has been presented in several Congresses about Mental Health.
To promote the radio programme flyers and t-shirts have been distributed to different mental health centres.
In December 2008 the programme was part of the Christmas solidarity TV show “La Marató” from the most important Public TV Channel in Catalonia collecting money for the research of mental disability. The organisation collaborated by performing in the Theatre of Salt a live broadcasting of the radio program.

The practice could be used universally, as long as there exist enough human and material resources.

severe personality disorder, mental disorder, radio programme, employment