Working for over twenty years, Anjali has been working to secure large-scale systemic changes in the mental health field by making mental health institutions, systems and communities intersectional and inclusive. The Assisted Living project was a dream we harboured for a while and when the opportunity arose to engage in a multi-stakeholder collaboration, we decided the time to act has finally come.

In government mental hospitals in West Bengal, there are numerous individuals who have long recovered but continue to live in these institutions because they are either abandoned or their families cannot be traced. Sometimes these people live there for as long as a decade and more. Through the Assisted Living Project, Anjali seeks to actualize the rights of persons living with disabilities to engage in independent living with the right to choose their place of residence. This project emerged out of a collaborative venture between Anjali, the Department of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal. The project is based in a facility named 'Pratyay', located at Dr G.S Bose Road, Tiljala, Kolkata, West Bengal. It can accommodate a hundred residents in total.

Aim

The Assisted Living project aims to enable the journey from patienthood to personhood by assisting recovered participants of state-run mental hospitals to transit from life in the mental hospital to a supported community life.

Tenure at Pratyay

One year from the date of coming to the facility.

Target Group

Long staying patients of state-run mental institutions in West Bengal who:

  • Have recovered from psychosocial disability
  • Have been abandoned
  • Are within 55 years of age
  • Are physically and mentally fit for employability

Activities

  • Vocational skill training through:
    • Baking
    • Stitching
    • Block printing
    • Soap making
    • Doll making
    • Paper bag making
  • Therapeutic activities such as:
    • Art
    • Rooftop gardening
    • Dance movement therapy
    • Yoga
  • Activities to build self-efficacy and responsibility:
    • Group sessions on job-readiness and self-development
    • Participation in weekly committee meetings in areas such as:
      • Conflict resolution
      • Diet management
      • Cleanliness and hygiene management
  • Skill and competency assessment
  • Periodic, issue-specific individual counselling sessions based on observation and Group counselling sessions to enhance motivation.
  • Cultural, sports and recreational activities:
    • Daily physical exercise
    • Indoor games
    • Television viewing
    • Exposure visits in the city
    • Reading books in the library
    • Celebration of events such as Rakshabandhan, Durga Puja and Diwali
  • Medical support
  • Legal support
  • Identity document creation
  • Reintegration

Impact

29% - 30% of the residents have been employed in the past 6 months employed in fields such as security services, laundry services, hand block printing and caregiving.