Integrating addiction and mental health networks to improve access to treatment for people with alcohol and drug‐related problems: a qualitative study

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francina Fonseca ◽  
Gail Gilchrist ◽  
Marta Torrens

PurposeImprovement in Access to Treatment for People with Alcohol and Drug Related Problems (IATPAD) was a European study that detected barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment for patients with alcohol and drug‐related problems. This article seeks to compare the findings from a qualitative study with patients and staff in Catalunya (Spain).Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a multi‐centre, qualitative study. A purposive sample of 47 staff, from a randomly selected sample of the three main entrance points to treatment for patients with alcohol and drug problems in Catalunya, were recruited from: Out‐patient General Psychiatry Centres (CSMA); Out‐patient Addiction Centres (CAS); and Primary Care Centres (CAP). In addition, open‐ended responses were collated from 142 additional staff on barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment for patients with alcohol and drug problems and how these barriers could be improved. A total of 25 patients from two CAS were interviewed in‐depth. The framework approach was used to interpret qualitative interviews.FindingsThe main barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment identified by staff and patients were patients' motivation, centres' opening hours, staff attitudes, the provision of information about services, and the co‐ordination and integration of different services – mainly the mental health and addiction sectors.Originality/valueThis paper describes and compares the main barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment from both staff and patients' point of view. Recommendations are made in order to improve service accessibility for patients with addiction problems and those with a dual diagnosis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Eccles ◽  
Doaa Nadouri ◽  
Molly Nannarone ◽  
Bonnie Lashewicz ◽  
Norbert Schmitz ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives To understand users’ perceptions about receiving their personalized depression risk score and to gain an understanding about how to improve the efficiency of risk communication from the user perspective. Methods A qualitative study embedded in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on evaluating the impact of providing personalized depression risk information on psychological harms and benefits. The participants (20 males and 20 females) were randomly selected from the intervention arm of the RCT after the 12-month assessment. The qualitative interviews were conducted through telephone, audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. We conducted a content analysis to describe the content and contextual meaning of data collected from participants. Results The first theme explained the motivation for receiving a risk score. Most participants chose to receive their personalised depression risk score with the goal of improving their self-awareness. The results revealed three sub-themes surrounding perceptions and implication of receiving their risk score: positive, negative, and neutral. Most participants found that receiving their score was positive because it improved their awareness of their mental health, but some participants could see that some people would have negative feelings when getting the score causing them to be more likely to get depression. The final theme focussed on improvements including: the best delivery methods, having resources and strategies, and targeting younger people. Conclusion The most significant motivation for, and benefit of receiving one’s personalized depression risk score was improved awareness of one’s mental health. A comprehensive risk communication program may improve the uptake and maximize the impact on behavior changes and risk reduction.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Jay Narayanasamy ◽  
Louise Thomson ◽  
Carol Coole ◽  
Fiona Nouri ◽  
Avril Drummond

Purpose There has been little research into the use and efficacy of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) across UK workplaces. This paper aims to investigate the implementation of MHFA across six UK organisations, identifying key barriers and facilitators. Design/methodology/approach Twenty-seven workplace representatives were recruited from six organisations through purposive sampling and took part in semi-structured interviews exploring their experiences of workplace MHFA. The data underwent thematic analysis, identifying key themes around implementation. Findings Implementation varied across organisations, including different reasons for initial interest in the programme, and variable ways that MHFA-trained employees operated post-training. Key barriers to successful implementation included negative attitudes around mental health, the perception that MHFA roles were onerous, and employees’ reluctance to engage in the MHFA programme. Successful implementation was perceived to be based on individual qualities of MHFA instructors and good practice demonstrated by trained individuals in the workplace. The role of the inner organisational setting and employee characteristics were further highlighted as barriers and facilitators to effective implementation. Research limitations/implications MHFA is a complex intervention, presenting in different ways when implemented into complex workplace settings. As such, traditional evaluation methods may not be appropriate for gaining insights into its effectiveness. Future evaluations of workplace MHFA must consider the complexity of implementing and operationalising this intervention in the workplace. Originality/value This study is the first to highlight the factors affecting successful implementation of MHFA across a range of UK workplaces.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1210-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tibor Mandják ◽  
Samy Belaid ◽  
Peter Naudé

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how context influences the quality of business relationships. This theoretical question is studied from the point of view of trust, one of the important components of business relationship quality. The authors study how trust is related to the dynamics and management of the business relationship in the context of an emerging market. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on qualitative interviews with 15 spare-parts resellers in the Tunisian automotive industry. The authors take a monadic view, interviewing resellers about their relationships with their wholesalers-importers. The decision to undertake the research in Tunisia is based on three factors. First, Tunisia is an emerging country and there is very little published research based in the Maghreb countries. Second, the Tunisian automotive parts market structure is relatively simple and, hence, easily understood, with most spare-parts being imported because of the low level of local production. Third, the actors in the study are all Tunisian companies, so research allows us to explore relationships between local companies in an emerging country. Findings The authors find that different kinds of trust play different roles over the dynamics of the relationship. Perceived trust is more important at the emergent stage of a relationship, and as the two parties learn from each other, experienced trust becomes more important in the established relationships. The initial perceived trust creates the possibility of building trust, and when mutual trust exists between the parties, it motivates them to maintain the relationship, but there is always the threat of the degradation of the quality of the relationship because of the violation or destruction of the trust. Research limitations/implications This paper shows that more care should be taken when using trust as the variable under scrutiny. Different aspects of trust manifest themselves at various stages of the relationship building cycle. Practical implications The results emphasize that when initiating a business relationship, managers first need to create perceived trust. Thereafter, once trust is built up, it is the trust that may “manage” or act to control the on-going relationship as long as the partners’ behavior or network changes do not violate the trust. Originality/value The results of this paper show that there is a mutual but not necessarily symmetrical or balanced influence of trust on the behavior of the partners involved. The influence of the different parties is dependent on the power architecture, the history of the relationship and the network position of the actors.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Stephen Roger Leach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of staff members working in a psychiatric therapeutic community in relation to ideas of “madness” and “chaos”. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a qualitative study based on oral history group witness seminars. Findings The findings indicate that many of the participants experienced working in a therapeutic community as both exciting and unsettling; some found themselves questioning their own mental health at the time. Despite a sense of “madness” and chaos in the life of the community, there was also a feeling that it provided a containing environment for some very disturbed patients. Originality/value This study is unusual in drawing upon staff member’s perceptions of their own relationship to “madness” in response to being involved in the life of a therapeutic community.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Robinson ◽  
Steve Robertson ◽  
Mary Steen ◽  
Gary Raine ◽  
Rhiannon Day

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an evaluation of a mental health resilience intervention for unemployed men aged 45-60. The focus is on examining the place of activities within a multi-dimensional men’s mental health programme, and exploring interactions between social context factors and models of change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on before and after survey data and qualitative interviews, to report results concerning effectiveness in changing men’s perceived resilience, to consider project processes concerning activities, social support and coping strategies, and to situate these within wider environments. Findings – The programme significantly raised the perceived resilience of participants. Activities were engaging for men, while the complex intersection between activities, social networking, and coping strategies course provided opportunities for men to develop resilience in contexts resonant with their male identities. Research limitations/implications – A limitation is that the evaluation could not measure longer term impacts. Practical implications – The paper discusses emerging considerations for resilience building, focusing on gender-sensitive approaches which can engage and retain men by focusing on doing and talking, in the contexts of men’s life-course, highlighting embodied (male) identities not disembodied “mental states”, and facilitating social support. There are challenges to recruit men despite stigma, support men to speak of feelings, and facilitate progression. Social implications – Potential exists for gender-aware programmes to sustain salutogenic change, co-producing social assets of peer support, male-friendly activities, and context sensitive course provision. Originality/value – The paper adds fresh evidence of gendered intervention approaches, including effects on male resilience. Application of a context-sensitive change model leads to multi-component findings for transferring and sustaining programme gains.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-97
Author(s):  
Flippa Watkeys ◽  
Suzanne Morton

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that recent attention has been focused on inpatient services at the expense of community mental health teams and that it is time to redress the balance. Design/methodology/approach – This is a personal viewpoint. Findings – In writing this piece it has enabled us to focus on just how widespread the issues are regarding the lack of focus on community services, and that the view and paradigm needs to change on all levels/structures. Services need to recognise the wide scope of community services and the part they inevitably play in someone’s recovery journey. It also throws the spotlight on services working too often in silos deeply affecting people in receipt of the services. Originality/value – To stimulate debate about the role of community mental health teams.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Keogh ◽  
Padraig McBennett ◽  
Jan deVries ◽  
Agnes Higgins ◽  
Marie O’Shea ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the evaluation of a one-day mental health wellness workshop which was delivered to male prisoners in an urban prison in the Republic of Ireland. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the workshop. This paper presents the findings of the qualitative arm of the evaluation. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured telephone interviews with ten participants who had completed the programme. Findings The participants were overwhelmingly positive about the wellness workshop and the qualitative interviews articulated the ways that the workshop impacted on their ability to manage their own and other peoples mental health. Originality/value As prisons attempt to limit the negative impact of prison life, implementing recovery orientated approaches such as the wellness workshop can have a positive impact on prisoners’ mental health as well as raising their awareness and improving their attitudes towards mental distress and suicide. The concepts of self-help and peer support, espoused by the workshop offer a real opportunity to equip interested prisoners with skills to support themselves and other prisoners who are in distress.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document