What helps me

What is on the card

The card has three short lists: ‘How you can tell I am not doing so well’, ‘This helps me’ and ‘This does not help me’. Each list has three lines. For example: ‘I sleep badly’ and ‘I cancel appointments’ in the first, ‘going for a short walk together’ in the second, and ‘lots of questions in a row’ in the third.

There is also room for two people you can call or message, with their name and phone number, and for your first name. Helplines are not on it. You add the people you trust yourself, for example someone from your family, a friend or your support worker.

Folded, the card is the size of a bank card. You carry it with you, or give it to someone close to you. When things are not going so well, you can show it instead of explaining.

How it works

1. Fill in what suits you: the front, the inside and the back. On a big screen you see straight away what your card looks like; on a phone you see it at the last step.
2. Press Print. In your printer settings, choose actual size (100%), so the card is the size of a bank card.
3. Cut out the card along the solid line.
4. Fold it in half along the long dotted line, with the text on the outside. The top half is upside down: that is how it should be.
5. Fold it in half again along the short dotted line. Now ‘What helps me’ is on the front.

On your own or together

You can make the card on your own, or together with someone you trust, such as your care worker. Then talk about it: what do you notice when things are not going so well, and what do others notice?

Want to give the card to people close to you too? Then print it a few times.

Good to know

• The card is small, so a line is short: about forty characters. Write what you mean in a few words.
• If a box gets full, the text gets a little smaller. If it still does not fit, you see which box is too full. Make a line shorter there.
• Has something changed in what helps you? Then make a new card.

Prefer to write by hand

Print the card empty. Where nothing is filled in, there are lines. Write what you want there yourself.

Your data

What you fill in is not saved and not sent. If you close or reload the page, everything is gone. Start again clears everything straight away, for example on a computer you share with others.

If you choose ‘Save as PDF’ when printing, the card is saved as a file on your device.