AW: OS with and for elderly, mental health consumers and others

[Catherine Pfaehler]

Wonderful, Harrison and everybody. Thank you. 

 

I will have my first talk about an OS for a strategic planning meeting this
Friday morning with the head of a large institution with sheltered
workshops. The Swiss laws have been changed drastically, giving handicapped
people more responsibility for what services they want to buy (the money
will go to them instead of to the institutions in the future), and this
needs to be implemented by the organisations. This thread couldn’t have been
timed with more perfection!!!

 

With love, Catherine

 

Catherine Pfaehler Senn

lic.oec.HSG

Open Space Begleitung

Kellersriedweg 8

CH - 2503 Biel

+41-(0)32 - 365 68 41

c.pfaehler at bluewin.ch

 

  _____  

Von: Harrison Owen [mailto:hhowen at verizon.net] 
Gesendet: Dienstag, 11. März 2008 20:31
Betreff: Re: OS with and for elderly, mental health consumers and others
[long]

 

A Mental Health Story

 

I know I have told this one several times, but I can’t find what I wrote –
so here goes again. Seems like there is a large sheltered workshop program
in Canada, the name of which has escaped my brain. Their leadership came to
an OS training, and upon their return  home they tried out OS for their
annual strategic planning. To save money they did it in one of their
facilities. When things started they found that a number of the chairs had
been filled by the clients. There was some discussion as to what to do – and
the decision was to proceed.

 

Everything worked just like usual, although some of the clients had some
difficulty writing their issues, but the staff helped. In short no problem.

 

Many months after the event, the director wrote me a note describing a most
unexpected result from the Open Space. They had just finished doing their
end of the year financial report and made a most interesting discovery. They
were able to provide twice the level of service for the same amount of
money. It turned out that half of the services previously offered the
clients neither wanted nor needed, but nobody had ever really talked to them
(clients) before. So the services were canceled and the money reallocated.
Cool!

 

After another year I got another note from the director. They had just
completed their assessments of the clients in terms of coping skills
(ability to get along in the world). Major discovery – those clients who had
participated in Open Space (and by that time OS had become a regular part of
that facility’s “business”) demonstrated the highest jump in scores that
anybody had ever seen. The director concluded by saying that although she
was sure that I had never thought of Open Space as a “treatment modality” it
was in fact the most powerful one they had ever encountered. Way cool!

 

Harrison 

 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20854

Phone 301-365-2093

Skype hhowen

Open Space Training  <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com


Open Space Institute  <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website  <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com 

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