scholarly journals PSV-5 Dairy worker perspectives on performing euthanasia as an essential component of their job

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 216-216
Author(s):  
Hailey M Simpson ◽  
Catie Cramer ◽  
Lily Edwards-Callaway ◽  
Lorann Stallones ◽  
Sofia Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
Human Animal Bond ◽  
Dairy Workers ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Euthanasia is a critical component of dairy management as it provides a way to alleviate animal suffering. Limited research explores dairy worker perspectives regarding their role in performing euthanasia or the impact of this practice on worker wellbeing. Additionally, training offered to caretakers is inconsistent in content and frequency and lacks cultural congruence. This project aimed to identify how euthanasia methods, procedures, and training affect caretaker attitudes towards performing on-farm euthanasia, job satisfaction and sense of well-being of dairy workers and managers. Focus groups, facilitated by Colorado State University researchers, were conducted at five large Colorado dairies. Thirty-eight animal caretakers (workers, n = 29; managers, n = 8; and veterinarians, n = 1) participated in focus groups according to their job description and language of choice (English or Spanish). Focus groups were recorded for subsequent transcription and translation. Thematic analysis was performed to identify recurring themes in the transcripts. Themes that emerged from the focus groups included: stressors related to physical, work, and social environments; euthanasia techniques, frequency, process, decision making, and who performs this task; the language used when referring to euthanasia; animal welfare; and the effect of the human-animal bond on euthanasia decision-making and performing euthanasia. Preliminary analysis of themes indicated that multiple factors influence how euthanasia is performed and the euthanasia decision-making process. Additionally, euthanasia and job-related tasks were identified as sources of stress for dairy workers. Strength of the human-animal bond and worker compassion towards the animals they care for were evident for all participants. Initial analysis showed a lack of caretaker awareness regarding mental health services available in their community. Training programs on dairy farms should incorporate worker health and safety, particularly as it pertains to performing euthanasia, and address the mental wellbeing of dairy workers. Information regarding mental health services in the community should also be accessible to caretakers.

scholarly journals Carers and co-production: enabling expertise through experience?

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the literature to date which has focused on co-production within mental healthcare in the UK, including service user and carer involvement and collaboration. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents key outcomes from studies which have explicitly attempted to introduce co-produced care in addition to specific tools designed to encourage co-production within mental health services. The paper debates the cultural and ideological shift required for staff, service users and family members to undertake co-produced care and outlines challenges ahead with respect to service redesign and new roles in practice. Findings – Informal carers (family and friends) are recognised as a fundamental resource for mental health service provision, as well as a rich source of expertise through experience, yet their views are rarely solicited by mental health professionals or taken into account during decision making. This issue is considered alongside new policy recommendations which advocate the development of co-produced services and care. Research limitations/implications – Despite the launch of a number of initiatives designed to build on peer experience and support, there has been a lack of attention on the differing dynamic which remains evident between healthcare professionals and people using mental health services. Co-production sheds a light on the blurring of roles, trust and shared endeavour (Slay and Stephens, 2013) but, despite an increase in peer recovery workers across England, there has been little research or service development designed to focus explicitly on this particular dynamic. Practical implications – Despite these challenges, coproduction in mental healthcare represents a real opportunity for the skills and experience of family members to be taken into account and could provide a mechanism to achieve the “triangle of care” with input, recognition and respect given to all (service users, carers, professionals) whose lives are touched by mental distress. However, lack of attention in relation to carer perspectives, expertise and potential involvement could undermine the potential for coproduction to act as a vehicle to encourage person-centred care which accounts for social in addition to clinical factors. Social implications – The families of people with severe and enduring mental illness assume a major responsibility for the provision of care and support to their relatives over extended time periods (Rose et al., 2004). Involving carers in discussions about care planning could help to provide a wider picture about the impact of mental health difficulties, beyond symptom reduction. The “co-production of care” reflects a desire to work meaningfully and fully with service users and carers. However, to date, little work has been undertaken in order to coproduce services through the “triangle of care” with carers bringing their own skills, resources and expertise. Originality/value – This paper debates the current involvement of carers across mental healthcare and debates whether co-production could be a vehicle to utilise carer expertise, enhance quality and satisfaction with mental healthcare. The critique of current work highlights the danger of increasing expectations on service providers to undertake work aligned to key initiatives (shared decision-making, person-centred care, co-production), that have common underpinning principles but, in the absence of practical guidance, could be addressed in isolation rather than as an integrated approach within a “triangle of care”.

scholarly journals Implementing a digital health model of care in Australian youth mental health services: protocol for impact evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Piper ◽  
Tracey A. Davenport ◽  
Haley LaMonica ◽  
Antonia Ottavio ◽  
Frank Iorfino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Model Of Care ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Industrial Grade ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The World Economic Forum has recently highlighted substantial problems in mental health service provision and called for the rapid deployment of smarter, digitally-enhanced health services as a means to facilitate effective care coordination and address issues of demand. In mental health, the biggest enabler of digital solutions is the implementation of an effective model of care that is facilitated by integrated health information technologies (HITs); the latter ensuring the solution is easily accessible, scalable and sustainable. The University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre (BMC) has developed an innovative digital health solution – delivered through the Youth Mental Health and Technology Program – which incorporates two components: 1) a highly personalised and measurement-based (data-driven) model of youth mental health care; and 2) an industrial grade HIT registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. This paper describes a research protocol to evaluate the impact of implementing the BMC’s digital health solution into youth mental health services (i.e. headspace - a highly accessible, youth-friendly integrated service that responds to the mental health, physical health, alcohol or other substance use, and vocational concerns of young people aged 12 to 25 years) within urban and regional areas of Australia. Methods The digital health solution will be implemented into participating headspace centres using a naturalistic research design. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from headspace health professionals, service managers and administrators, as well as from lead agency and local Primary Health Network (PHN) staff, via service audits, Implementation Officer logs, online surveys, and semi-structured interviews, at baseline and then three-monthly intervals over the course of 12 months. Discussion At the time of publication, six headspace centres had been recruited to this study and had commenced implementation and impact evaluation. The first results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2021. This study will focus on the impact of implementing a digital health solution at both a service and staff level, and will evaluate digital readiness of service and staff adoption; quality, usability and acceptability of the solution by staff; staff self-reported clinical competency; overall impact on headspace centres as well as their lead agencies and local PHNs; and social return on investment.

scholarly journals Understanding and evaluating new models of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in South-East England: a study protocol for an observational mixed-methods study

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e024230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Rocks ◽  
Melissa Stepney ◽  
Margaret Glogowska ◽  
Mina Fazel ◽  
Apostolos Tsiachristas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Resource Utilisation ◽  
South East England ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionIncreased demand for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), alongside concerns that services should be better commissioned to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, has contributed to a requirement to transform services to improve accessibility, quality of care and health outcomes. Following the submission of government-mandated transformation plans for CAMHS, services in England are changing in how, where and by whom they are delivered. This protocol describes the research methods to be applied to understand CAMHS transformations and evaluate the impact on the use of mental health services, patient care, satisfaction, health outcomes and health resource utilisation costs.Methods and analysisA mixed-methods approach will be taken in an observational retrospective study of CAMHS provided by a large National Health Service (NHS) mental health trust in South-East England (Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust). Quantitative research will include descriptive analysis of routinely collected data, with difference-in-differences analysis supplemented with propensity score matching performed to assess the impact of CAMHS transformations from 2015 onwards. An economic evaluation will be conducted from a healthcare perspective to provide commissioners with indications of value for money. Qualitative research will include observations of services and interviews with key stakeholders including CAMHS staff, service users and guardians, to help identify mechanisms leading to changes in service delivery, as well as barriers and enabling factors in this phase of transformation.Ethics and disseminationThis project has been registered with NHS Oxford Health Foundation Trust as a service evaluation. Informed consent will be sought from all stakeholders partaking in interviews according to good clinical practice. A local data sharing protocol will govern the transfer of quantitative data. Study findings will be published in professional journals for NHS managers and peer-reviewed scientific journals. They will be discussed in seminars targeting CAMHS providers, managers and commissioners and presented at scientific conferences.

scholarly journals Developing and Using Vignettes to Explore the Relationship Between Risk Management Practice and Recovery-Oriented Care in Mental Health Services

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Holley ◽  
Steven Gillard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Health Care Research ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Care Research

There is a lack of literature evaluating the development and use of vignettes to explore contested constructs in qualitative health care research where a conventional interview schedule might impose assumptions on the data collected. We describe the development and validation of vignettes in a study exploring mental health worker and service user understandings of risk and recovery in U.K. mental health services. Focus groups with mental health workers and service users explored study questions from experiential perspectives. Themes identified in the groups were combined with existing empirical literature to develop a set of vignettes. Feedback focus groups were conducted to validate and amend the vignettes. Following use in research interviews, results suggested that the vignettes had successfully elicited data on issues of risk and recovery in mental health services. Further research using creative, comparative methods is needed to fully understand how vignettes can best be used in qualitative health care research.

scholarly journals The impact of a night confinement policy on patients in a UK high secure inpatient mental health service

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Chu ◽  
Kimberley McNeill ◽  
Karen M. Wright ◽  
Anthony Hague ◽  
Tracy Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Sleep Hygiene ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Inpatient Mental Health ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – From 2012, all high-secure forensic mental health services in England began operating a policy of confining patients to their locked bedrooms overnight to increase service efficiency and reduce costs. The purpose of this paper is to assess the views of staff and patients concerning the policy and examine the specific impact of the policy on patients. Design/methodology/approach – Measures of patients’ sleep hygiene, patients’ behaviour, ward atmosphere, engagement with therapy and adverse incidents were taken both before and after the night confinement (NC) policy was implemented. Both patients and staff also expressed their views of the impact of the NC policy. Findings – Results provide converging evidence that the impact of the NC policy on patients is negligible. There were no consistent negative effects of confining patients overnight. Rather, patients and staff were broadly positive about the impact that the practice had on patients. Practical implications – Confining patients to locked bedrooms overnight does not exert any consistent influence, positive or negative, on patients’ sleep hygiene, behaviour or engagement with therapy, and patients expressed a broadly positive view of the practice of NC. Thus, a NC policy may have a contribution to make to the provision an effective high-secure mental health service. Originality/value – The study provides convincing evidence that secure inpatient mental health services that are considering the adoption of a NC policy may do so without fear of a negative impact on patients.

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