Michies Pharmacy has been serving the community for over 100 years and as part of their recent series of health initiatives they’re partnering with Mental Health Aberdeen to offer a safe space for people to come and “Blether Together”.
Once a month the Charles Michie café in the pharmacy’s city centre branch on Union Street will host a drop-in. The simple idea: set aside a table, and have a chat.
Graeme Kinghorn of Mental Health Aberdeen (MHA), one of the driving forces behind the project, believes loneliness is at the forefront of most mental health cases.
“It’s such a significant contributor, loneliness and isolation, it sits behind just about everything”, he says.
“Social isolation is the biggest issue that people face. I’ve been really surprised how prevalent it is; it ranks highest of all issues that people talk about.”
Blether Together
The idea of “Blether Together”, and collaborating with Michies, came by chance following a chat with pharmacy manager Rosemary Michie.
“We were speaking about the health projects they’ve been running, and she mentioned that she wanted to have a mental health spin to it,” he says.
“In German pubs and coffee houses they set aside tables dedicated to combating loneliness. They place flags to make people aware that they’re welcome to the company. It’s called ‘Stammtisch’, meaning ‘regular table’, and it’s a terrific idea.”
Meetings will occur once per month, and although the initiative is yet to take off as both parties had intended, Graeme understands services such as these can be slow starters.
“When we ran it last month it there was only one lady who came along, and she actually wanted to find out more about MHA, but it really isn’t intended to be therapy as such. It’s also our way of signposting people to help that exists.
“That’s what we want to do, generate awareness. It really is interesting to see the spread of support across the city.”
The service is a distinct contrast from MHA’s usual modus operandi admits Graeme.
“It’s not normally the kind of thing we do, we’re far more formal in the counselling we offer, but the idea is great.
“It might not be ideal trying to cram it into one lunch time a month, but we’re here to try and facilitate a conversation, it’s not intended to be any sort of therapy session.”
MHA specialise in one-to-one person-centred counselling, with business conducted out of dedicated rooms by highly trained individuals.
However, even Graeme understands the importance and effect of a more informal setting for apprehensive visitors.
Aftermath of covid
“The majority of people are comfortable entering a coffee shop.
“If people feel it’s a hurdle to overcome emotionally you’ve got to try and make that as easy as possible for them.”
The aftermath of covid is evident, and despite adapting to the digital requirements during the pandemic, support behind a screen is something he feels must be left behind.
“I’m wary about phones, video calls, etc. A lot of services are going that way, because it’s cheaper, but there’s nothing like in-person dialogue,” he says.
We all know how much sitting down and having a chat can help. It can be about anything, the weather, the football, whatever, but face-to-face is key.”
So far, the café has only held two sessions, and despite initial low numbers, Graeme insists it’s an initiative that can make a difference.
“I posted on LinkedIn about it after last month and never had a reaction like it before.”
“It seems to be great in theory,” Graeme adds.
“Like all these things it’s challenging to begin with, but you’ve got to start somewhere.”
Conversation