From surviving to thriving: how does that happen

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 337-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bertram ◽  
Sarah McDonald

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore what helped seven people in contact with secondary mental health services achieve their vocational goals, such as: employment, education, training and volunteering. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used the practice of co-operative inquiry – staff and peer supporters co-designed an evaluation of vocational and peer support work with service users. Findings – Service users experienced invalidating living conditions that caused serious distress. These life struggles included: isolation, trauma events and stigma. The impact involved distressing emotions such as: despair, fear, pain and confusion. In contrast, when service users experienced supportive validating conditions (trusting relationships, engaging in valued activity and peer support) they reported being able to learn, change and grow – finding their own way forward, to improve well-being and quality of life. Research limitations/implications – Qualitative analysis from in-depth interviews revealed a range of consistent themes that enabled the authors to visually represent these and “begin” developing a model of change – grounded in lived experience. Further research is required to develop this model. Originality/value – The development of a model of change grounded in an invalidation/validation framework offers a different approach – in terms of how people are perceived and treated. This has relevance for Government policy development, clinical commissioning groups and practitioners.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Louise Bester ◽  
Anne McGlade ◽  
Eithne Darragh

Purpose “Co-production” is a process in health and social care wherein service users and practitioners work in partnership. Recovery colleges (RCs) are educational establishments offering mental health education; a cornerstone feature is that courses are designed and delivered in parity by both mental health practitioners and “peers” – people with lived experience of mental illness. This paper aims to consider, through the identification of key themes, whether co-production within RCs is operating successfully. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a systematic review of qualitative literature. Relevant concept groups were systematically searched using three bibliographic databases: Medline, Social Care Online and Scopus. Articles were quality appraised and then synthesised through inductive thematic analysis and emergent trends identified. Findings Synthesis identified three key themes relating to the impact of co-production in RCs: practitioner attitudes, power dynamics between practitioners and service users, and RCs’ relationships with their host organisations. As a result of RC engagement, traditional practitioner/patient hierarchies were found to be eroding. Practitioners felt they were more person-centred. RCs can model good co-productive practices to their host organisations. The review concluded, with some caveats, that RC co-production was of high fidelity. Originality/value RC research is growing, but the body of evidence remains relatively small. Most of what exists examine the impact of RCs on individuals’ overall recovery and mental health; there is a limited empirical investigation into whether their flagship feature of parity between peers and practitioners is genuine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 697-715
Author(s):  
Justine Virlée ◽  
Allard C.R. van Riel ◽  
Wafa Hammedi

Purpose This study aims to develop a better understanding of how online health community (OHC) members with different health literacy (HL) levels benefit from their participation, through the analysis and comparison of their resource integration (RI) processes. It investigates through a RI lens how the vulnerability of community members – captured as their level of HL – affects the benefits they derive from participation. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to investigate the effects of healthcare service users’ vulnerability. Data were collected about their profiles and levels of HL. Furthermore, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted. Findings The study demonstrates how low levels of HL act as a barrier to the integration of available online health resources. Participation in OHCs appears less beneficial for vulnerable users. Three types of benefits were identified at the individual level, namely, psychological quality-of-life, physical quality-of-life and learning. Benefits identified at the community level were: content generation and participation in the development of the community. Originality/value This study has implications for the understanding of how service users’ activities affect their own outcomes and how the vulnerability of users could be anticipated and considered in the design of the community.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Crepaz-Keay

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look at peer support in the context of broader communities. Design/methodology/approach It builds on the author’s experience working with the Mental Health Foundation of developing delivering and evaluating several self-management and peer support initiatives in a variety of settings with a range of different peer groups. It will consider what constitutes a peer and a community, and explore the notion of community solutions for community problems. Findings Peer support in community settings has the capacity to address social isolation, build skills and self-esteem and give individuals a better quality of life – it can also add value to whole communities and reframe the way entire groups are considered within them. It has the ability to be both more accessible and less stigmatising and thus reach more people. This also offers community based peer support as a contributor to preventing the deterioration of mental health and potentially reducing the impact of mental ill-health. Social implications The author needs to think more in terms of whole community and get better at improving how the author measures and articulates this community benefit. This will allow us to make better decisions about how best to apply resources for long term whole community gain. Peer support and peer leadership needs to be at the heart of this process. Originality/value This paper places a familiar approach in a different setting placing peer support firmly outside services and within comunities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Birgit Völlm ◽  
Shaz Majid ◽  
Rachel Edworthy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe service users’ perspectives on the difference between high secure long-stay forensic psychiatric services in the Netherlands and high secure forensic psychiatric care in England. These perspectives are relevant in considering the benefits of a similar long-stay service in England. Design/methodology/approach A current in-patient detained in a high secure hospital in England and other mental health service users and carers with experience in forensic-psychiatric settings were asked to watch a documentary on a Dutch high secure long-stay service. Then they were invited to make comparisons between this service and high secure care in England. These perspectives were gained in the context of their membership of the Service User Reference Group of an externally funded study on long-stay in forensic-psychiatric settings in England. Findings The small group of participants highlighted the importance of relational security, meaningful occupation, autonomy, positive therapeutic relationships with staff and a homely environment for those with lengthy admissions and perceived these to be better met in the Dutch service. These factors might contribute to improved quality of life that services should strive to achieve, especially for those with prolonged admissions. Practical implications Perspectives of service users with lived experience of long-stay in forensic settings are important in informing service developments. Lessons can be learnt from initiatives to improve the quality of life in long-stay services in other countries and consideration be given on how to best manage this unique group. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study asking service users about their view on forensic services in other countries. The findings suggest that service users have valuable contributions to make to aid service developments and should be involved in similar such exercises in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109
Author(s):  
Hannah White ◽  
Laura Price ◽  
Tom Barker

Purpose Peer support (PS) has, over recent years, been implemented across a variety of NHS adult mental health settings. In November 2015, peer support workers (PSW) were introduced to an Early Intervention in Psychosis Service (EIS) in the Midlands. The purpose of this paper is to focus on organisational factors, asking how do PS impact on an early intervention in psychosis multi-disciplinary team (MDT). Design/methodology/approach Six EIS MDT members participated in an hour-long focus group. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, in line with a qualitative methodology (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Findings Two themes were generated, including “The values of PS” (consisting of three sub-themes: improving service engagement; personal qualities; and the peer relationship); and “The peer support role” (consisting of three sub-themes: living experience; boundaries; and alternative perspectives). Findings imply that PS in the current EIS related to: improved service engagement and greater understanding between service providers and users; which could be linked to better outcomes for service users (such as reduced duration of untreated psychosis (DUP)). Originality/value It has been suggested that PSWs facilitate an improved understanding between service providers and service users (Repper and Watson, 2012). However, research into organisational and team benefits of PS is lacking, with a need for more exploration (Repper, 2013). The current study begins to address the lack of literature regarding the organisational impact of PS, and even further regarding early intervention.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 294-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Nordin ◽  
Marina Romeo ◽  
Montserrat Yepes-Baldó ◽  
Kristina Westerberg

Purpose Hierarchical and flat organizational types are predominant in Spain and Sweden, respectively. To study how managers’ commitment and work overcommitment (WOC) affect employee well-being, and job perception in these different countries can shed insight on how to improve eldercare organization. The purpose of this paper was to study the association between eldercare employee exposure to managers’ commitment and WOC, and employee mental well-being and job perception and how these associations differed between Spain and Sweden. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire with validated questions on commitment, WOC, mental well-being and job perception, operationalized as the perception of quality of care and turnover intent, was sent out to eldercare managers and employees in Spain and Sweden. t-Tests, χ2 and linear regression were applied to study the associations and differences between the countries. Findings Interaction analyses revealed that Spanish employees’ mental well-being and job perception were influenced by their managers’ commitment and WOC in that manager commitment improved and WOC impaired well-being and job perception. However, the Swedish eldercare employees were not influenced by their managers on these parameters. Practical implications The impact of managerial commitment and WOC differed between employees in Spain and Sweden, possibly because the preconditions for leadership varied due to differences in organizational type. Originality/value This study compares the managers’ impact on employee health and job perception in two countries with different organizational prerequisites. Moreover, managers’ commitment and WOC were estimated by the managers themselves and did not rely on the employees’ perception, which improved ecological validity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hau Nguyen Le ◽  
Tram-Anh Ngoc Pham ◽  
Thuy Ngoc Pham

PurposeThis study aims to address two relatively unexplored issues in banking service literature. The first relates to the impact of co-creation behaviors of frontline employees (FLEs) on their well-being. The second is the impact of FLEs' adaptability on their performance of co-creation behaviors and their well-being in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachA structural model was built and tested using survey data collected from 366 FLEs offering financial consulting services to customers at banks.FindingsFLE co-creation behaviors have positive impacts on FLEs’ well-being, including well-being in the workplace (job satisfaction) and general well-being (quality of life). Moreover, FLEs with a high level of interpersonal and service-offering adaptability perform co-creation behaviors better than those with lower adaptability and have higher job satisfaction. Between service-offering adaptability and interpersonal adaptability, the former has stronger effects than the latter.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that banks develop and enhance FLEs’ adaptability and co-creation behaviors to enhance their well-being and customer value.Originality/valuePrior research on FLEs' co-creation mainly focuses on customer-related transformative outcomes, leaving their own well-being less examined. This study fills this gap by providing evidence to suggest that although active co-creation behaviors require FLEs to have more skills and put in more effort, they do bring about transformative impacts in terms of better job satisfaction and quality of life. Additionally, a high level of adaptability helps FLEs to comfortably perform their co-creation behavior, thereby reducing stress and improving well-being.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Eleanor Burch ◽  
John Rose

Purpose Research suggests that individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) are inconsistently supported throughout the criminal justice system (CJS) in the UK. Bradley (2009) recommended the introduction of criminal justice liaison and diversion (L&D) teams to bridge the gap between the CJS and mental health services and provide a more consistent and improved quality of support for individuals with vulnerabilities, including those with autism. This study aims to explore the experiences of staff working in L&D teams who encounter individuals with ASD. Design/methodology/approach Interviews were conducted with ten L&D team members. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to gain insight into their lived experiences of working with autism in the CJS. Findings Interpretation of individual transcripts resulted in three super-ordinate themes: “feeling helpless and helpful in the system”, “transition to knowing” and “impact on self”. Each theme encapsulated a number of sub-themes depicting the limitations of services, difficult environments, making a difference, lack of understanding, developing understanding and the impact of these experiences on staff’s confidence, attitudes and well-being. Practical implications Criminal justice services are limited for people with autism. There is a lack of autism awareness by staff. Lack of awareness impacts staff attitudes and confidence. Training in autism should be provided to criminal justice staff. Originality/value This research highlights the limitations of services available for individuals with autism and the widespread lack of autism awareness. These concerns directly impacted participants’ confidence, attitudes and well-being. Recommendations are proposed to guide future practice and research including increasing availability of access to ASD services, enforcing mandatory autism-specific training for staff and routinely collecting service-user feedback.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-205
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Fereshteh Seyyed ◽  
Shayan Farhangdoust

PurposeGiven the negative consequences of job burnout for both individual auditors and audit firms, the present study aims to examine the effect of auditors' personal characteristics, working life quality and psychological well-being on auditors' job burnout.Design/methodology/approachWe chose 240 auditors (junior, senior, manager and partner) who work at 53 audit and public accounting firms in Mashhad during 2015–2016 as our sample. The respondents were randomly selected and the data were gathered through the distribution of questionnaires of Walton’s (1973) quality of working, Ryff’s (1995) psychological well-being and Maslach and Jackson’s (1984) job burnout. We also employ structural equation modeling (SEM) along with statistical path analysis to test our hypotheses by using R statistical software.FindingsConsistent with our expectations and prior literature, our findings suggest that auditors' job burnout is significantly and positively influenced by auditors' personal traits, quality of working life and psychological well-being.Originality/valueThe present study is quite remarkable and unique in that it focuses on a specific audit market where there are significant differences in socio-economic, political and cultural factors with those of Western or European developed markets. The results provided in this paper could be fruitful for auditors, regulators and policymakers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Chishty ◽  
Monika Monika ◽  
Nimali Singh

Purpose The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of nutrition and health counselling on quality of life (QoL) among celiac children (CC) aged 7-12 years, which was reported by the parent. So far, no study has emphasized on impact of nutritional counselling on QoL in CC. The QoL in the present study was reported by parents of celiac and non-celiac (NC) subjects. Design/methodology/approach This is an interventional study. Follow-up celiac cases aged 7-12 years (n = 50) were compared with NC cases (n = 25). A 24-item instrument was standardized for reliability and validity and was used to assess the QoL of children on a 100-score scale. The scale used four dimensions and explored physical, emotional, social and family outlook. The impact of health counselling using posters, leaflets and a booklet prepared on simplification of disease, gluten-free diet and its treatment was determined. Findings Total QoL scores were better in NC children (7-9 years), whereas celiac pre-adolescents (CP; 10-12 years) showed higher QoL scores than NC pre-adolescents. NC QoL scores were significantly higher than CC in emotional and mental domain (p < 0.02) and family outlook (p < 0.01). In CP, physical well-being (p < 0.01) and social well-being (p < 0.04) were significantly higher, whereas family outlook was significantly lower (p < 0.01). After repetitive counselling sessions, the CC had higher scores than their NC siblings. Postintervention QoL scores in CC (7-9 years) and pre-adolescents improved from 77.5 to 80.95 and from 80.16 to 83.75, respectively, and a significant positive shift was seen in family outlook (p < 0.05). Originality/value This study presents a comparative analysis on impact of nutrition counselling on QoL in Indian CC and their comparison with NC siblings matched for age.


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