The role of the bridge builder

Bridge building is a strategy developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  Designed to promote social inclusion for groups that might otherwise be marginalised, bridge building has been used to immense effect in the mental health field.  Bridge building is particularly useful for people who suffer or who are in recovery from severe and enduring mental health conditions.

The role of the bridge builder is very simple.  It is to help facilitate access to mainstream environments for individuals, based entirely on their own personal choices.  The original social inclusion think-tanks were set up by the (then) office of the deputy prime minister.  Nine key social domains were identified as key to individual development.  However, it is not expected that every individual would be expected to access every single domain, nor would they wish to.  The key areas include employment, arts & culture, faith and cultural communities, education & training, volunteering, befriending, sports and wellbeing.  There are other domains as well, such as friends and family and statutory services. 

Within these contexts, a bridge building team can be set up, working in mainstream with referrals from other agencies particularly NHS and social services.  It is crucial that the organisation that is commissioned to carry out mainstream is itself embedded in a mainstream environment or conducts its interactions with clients in the big wide world, rather than in a clinical setting.  It is the only way that a conversation with a client about their hopes and aspirations can be realistic and genuine. These approaches are entirely in line with the way mainstream was envisaged as a key part of the care pathway and an alternative to what Dr. Pat Deegan has aptly described as 'a career in mental health'.