What works for mental health problems in youth? Survey of real‐world experiences of treatments and side effects

Author(s):  
Amy J. Morgan ◽  
Anna M. Ross ◽  
Marie B. H. Yap ◽  
Nicola J. Reavley ◽  
Alexandra Parker ◽  
...  
BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S256-S256
Author(s):  
Nalin Hettiarachchi ◽  
Praveen Kumar ◽  
vikramraj balasundaram

AimsTo assess the level of understanding and difficulties encountered when obtaining sexual health details of their patients among mental health clinicians.BackgroundPeople with mental health problems, especially those treated with psychiatric medication experience greater rates of sexual difficulties than those in the general population. Mental health practitioners need to examine personal beliefs and attitudes about sexuality among people with mental health problems. Providing information about sexuality and sexual practice benefits and enhances the quality of life of people with mental health problems. Therefore taking a sexual history should be an integral part of psychiatric assessment.MethodAn online survey consisted of 17 questions to cover 3 areas of objectives mentioned above was created using Survey Monkey. A link to the survey was emailed to all the clinicians who perform psychiatric assessments. Response collection and data analysis was performed by the trust IT team.ResultTotal of 54 clinicians participated in the survey representing nurses, junior, middle grade doctors and consultants. Almost all stated that mental health patients have capacity to make appropriate decisions about their sexual behaviour patterns. 43% thought people with mental health problems don't have similar patterns of sexual behaviour compared to people without mental health problems. 11% stated that people with mental health problems do not experience greater rates of sexual difficulties than those in the general population. Nearly a third did not believe that telling patients about potential sexual side effects may lead to poor compliance. Nearly 70% stated taking a sexual history should be an integral part of psychiatric assessment. 44% reported lack of knowledge and skills when talking about sexual health and 33% avoided asking about sexual health due to lack of knowledge. Half of the clinicians avoided asking about sexual health due to the fear of embarrassing or causing distress to patients while 16% avoided asking about sexual health due to self-embarrassment. 65% talk about sexual health issues only if patients brought them up.During last 3 clinical encounters majority never asked about sexual difficulties, high risk behaviour and drug side-effects related to sexual difficulties. A significant proportion of clinicians never asked about contraception from their female clients.ConclusionSurvey revealed majority of mental health clinicians lack understanding and skills about sexual health issues highlighting the importance of raising awareness among clinicians about sexual health issues.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aislinn D. Bergin ◽  
Elvira Perez Vallejos ◽  
E. Bethan Davies ◽  
David Daley ◽  
Tamsin Ford ◽  
...  

Abstract Digital health interventions (DHIs) have frequently been highlighted as one way to respond to increasing levels of mental health problems in children and young people. Whilst many are developed to address existing mental health problems, there is also potential for DHIs to address prevention and early intervention. However, there are currently limitations in the design and reporting of the development, evaluation and implementation of preventive DHIs that can limit their adoption into real-world practice. This scoping review aimed to examine existing evidence-based DHI interventions and review how well the research literature described factors that researchers need to include in their study designs and reports to support real-world implementation. A search was conducted for relevant publications published from 2013 onwards. Twenty-one different interventions were identified from 30 publications, which took a universal (n = 12), selective (n = 3) and indicative (n = 15) approach to preventing poor mental health. Most interventions targeted adolescents, with only two studies including children aged ≤10 years. There was limited reporting of user co-design involvement in intervention development. Barriers and facilitators to implementation varied across the delivery settings, and only a minority reported financial costs involved in delivering the intervention. This review found that while there are continued attempts to design and evaluate DHIs for children and young people, there are several points of concern. More research is needed with younger children and those from poorer and underserved backgrounds. Co-design processes with children and young people should be recognised and reported as a necessary component within DHI research as they are an important factor in the design and development of interventions, and underpin successful adoption and implementation. Reporting the type and level of human support provided as part of the intervention is also important in enabling the sustained use and implementation of DHIs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S54-S55
Author(s):  
Y. Cohen

From the patients’ point of view, valued-based mental healthcare is mental healthcare based on a holistic vision of care, according to which patients are actively involved in their treatment to achieve the best possible outcomes. They are invited to collaborate with both mental health care providers such as psychiatrists and primary caregivers to determine what types of treatment are the most effective.GAMIAN-Europe believes that the best package of care includes the following four elements:– medication – antipsychotic medication is consensually regarded as first-line treatment for people with mental health problems;– psychotherapy/counselling – although antipsychotic medications are the mainstay of treatment for mental health problems, pharmacotherapy alone produces only limited improvement in negative symptoms, cognitive function, social functioning and quality of life. Additionally, many patients continue to suffer from persistent positive symptoms and relapses, particularly when they fail to adhere to prescribed medications. These situations emphasize the need for multimodal care, which includes psychosocial therapies as adjuncts to antipsychotic medications in order to alleviate symptoms and to improve social functioning and quality of life;– psycho-education – the more a patient learns about his/her condition the better placed he/she will be to take control of it. Psycho-education embodies this principle by using a clearly-defined therapeutic programme, in which a trained therapist delivers targeted information designed to reduce both the frequency and the severity of symptoms. Psycho-education increases patients’ knowledge and understanding of their illness and treatment options and helps them cope more effectively. Many people find that they benefit not only from the information they receive during psycho-education, but also from the learning process itself. There are several different ways in which psycho-education can be delivered, including one-to-one sessions with a therapist, sessions aimed specifically at carers and family members, group sessions attended by several people coping with mental illness and mixed group sessions attended by people with mental illnesses and family members;– self-help – self-help groups offer patients a voice and an audience with the time and inclination to listen to patients’ concerns and reassure them and ease their anxiety. For example, a self-help group may be able to quell anxiety regarding side effects, to reassure the patient, from first-hand experience, that these side effects are transient, normal and non-threatening and will diminish over time. The real experts on living with a mental disorder are those who are already doing so. Therefore, most support groups are full of people who can share information about how they have managed to cope with their illnesses.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Vold Hansen ◽  
Ragnhild Fugletveit ◽  
Petter A Arvesen

For many years the education and training of people with addictions and mental-health problems have been a key strategy to assist people to find ordinary jobs. This strategy is largely concerned with adapting people to the requirements of the workplace. An alternative strategy can also be envisaged, where the workplace adapts to the possibilities and resources of the people (Hansen, 2009). In this article, we raise the following question: how is it possible to adapt workplaces for people with addiction and mental-health problems? Here we highlight the experiences of a workplace that focuses on adapting to employees’ capabilities and resources. The data collection consists both of 12 interviews with managers and workers and of participant observation of the workplace. Our answer to our question is that this is possible because the workplace is flexible in the way that they adapt their demands to the workers’ resources.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 2067-2086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Simmons ◽  
Leslie Lindsey ◽  
Matthew J. Delaney ◽  
Anna Whalley ◽  
J. Gayle Beck

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