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How does the Tidal Model' look five years after its first report 'launched' the idea on a wider ocean? Tyneside, famous for its ship building, was the 'yard' for this striking vessel of the mind which has now sailed to ports all over the globe. Poppy Buchanan-Barker describes the voyages it has made since then, the cargoes it has carried to practitioners internationally and the messages for mental health nurses everywhere
It is just over five years since the publication of the first report on the Tidal Model (Barker, 1998). Since then, nurses from all four corners of the globe have begun to express interest in this alternative model for mental health recovery. What began as a local attempt in Tyneside to re-focus acute mental health nursing care, has developed into recovery paradigm for the whole mental health continuum, proving attractive to staff in both hospital and community settings, working with older and younger people alike (Barker, 2002). By far the commonest comment received through the Tidal Model website is - 'this reminds me why I came into nursing in the first place'.
The Tidal Model develops Peplau's original emphasis on the nurse-patient relationship (Peplau, 1952) to include an appreciation of the chaotic nature of change, which is the only true constant (Barker, 1996). The Model emphasises ways that nurses might help people in their care to become aware of the small changes which are occurring to them, and through them, as part of their everyday reality. Most importantly, the Model emphasises pragmatic ways that people might learn 'what works' for them and why. Such 'personal wisdom' represents the basis of the person's recovery - the knowledge they will use to navigate the metaphorical storms of the recovery voyage.
International projects
By the beginning of 2004 almost 100 formal Tidal Model projects had been established worldwide. Most of these projects are in England, Wales and Scotland, but exciting developments are also happening abroad.
Nurses in the Irish Republic were the first to introduce the Model into community care -first within a day hospital project and then in a primary care setting at Tosnu - Gaelic for 'a fresh start' - attached to a health centre in Cork city. In New Zealand, nurses at the...