PrPlayers

Situation

Professional role Players were asked to supply a large group of role players to simulate a whole day workshop at Bethlam Royal Hospital. This was for a training exercise that would convincingly test the workers in their new work environment.

Solution

A meeting was set up with the coordinators to devise a day in the life of the workforce. Legitimate workplace occurrences were time-tabled throughout the day to challenge all the participants. Role players were allocated their patient profiles, along with one or more tasks expertly written to test one or more of the trainees. Reports were made by observers and faults and defects were highlighted and rectified before the opening of the new centre.

Result

Convincing portrayals of men and women with ‘high level’ mental health issues challenged the participants throughout the day with a series of successful exercises that were real and difficult. The ability to stop, discuss and correct each problem immediately meant that solutions were quickly found and situations rectified. Confidence in the team was clearly improved and mistakes that may well have arisen for the ‘users’ were avoided, making this a safe and smooth transition.