Healthcare Bursary 2010

The Insurance Corporation Healthcare Bursary awards are annually held and offer the opportunity for Health and Social Care professionals to expand their skills and improve healthcare in the Bailiwick.  A bursary of £ 3,000 is awarded to fund the winning project.

Every year a variety of projects are seen but unfortunately there is only one prize.

HSSD chief officer, Mark Cooke, applauds those that have entered, "In these times of budget cuts, projects such as these are invaluable and I'm truly grateful for the staff who work outside of their normal hours to submit their ideas and bring even more to their areas of expertise."

2010 winner - 'The Decider' project

Cognitive behavioural psychotherapists Carol Vivyan and Michelle Ayres have won this year's Bursary for 'The Decider', which is currently used as a tool for adult mental health therapies.

'The Decider' (based on a more creative approach to therapy, including the use of music and visuals that prompt a positive change in behaviour) is of great use for the dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), which is used to treat adults with border personality disorder.  The bursary would be used to develop 'The Decider' further into a training manual that could be used by other clinicians, making DBT more accessible to clients.

Insurance Corporation chairman Peter Walpole said:  "The winning entry is not an area of mental health that the majority of islanders would be familiar with but it is an important tool for therapists and one that sees great results.  It is wonderful to be able to support a project like this that will have real benefits to the mental health service."