‘What makes an excellent mental health doctor?’ A response integrating the experiences and views of service users with critical reflections of psychiatrists

SummaryNew forms of psychiatric remuneration linked to levels of activity undoubtedly will have an increasing role to play in mental health systems right across Europe. Potentially they can be more efficient and promote choice, but valid concerns have been raised about their impact on the sustainability and nature of psychiatric care. This article looks in particular at recent developments in England and the Netherlands and reflects on how remuneration mechanisms may need to develop further both to improve efficiency and quality within the context of an ever more fragmented and multi-sectoral mental health system. Any introduction of activity- based reimbursement should be introduced gradually. This should be accompanied by investment in adequate information systems to help better understand service utilisation patterns, transitional funding safeguards to reduce the risk of financial instability and incentives/ contractual measures to ensure that services strive to offer services of the highest possible quality that meet the needs of service users.

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Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing

10.1093/oso/9780199547746.001.0001 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Nursing Students ◽

Nursing Practice ◽

Care Plan ◽

Service Users ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Mental Health Nursing ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Health Nursing ◽

Case Based

In order to provide sound, person-centred care, mental health nursing students need a thorough understanding of theory alongside the ability to translate this knowledge into practice. It can be difficult to apply ideas from the classroom and books when learning how to work with mental health service users for the first time. That is why the theoretical aspects of this book are presented alongside realistic accounts of nursing practice. Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing is a case-based and service user centred textbook for mental health nursing students. Designed to support students throughout their pre-registration studies, the text covers the essential knowledge required to provide high quality nursing care. Contributions from real service users and cases of fictional clients are explored in detail to provide excellent transferable skills for practice. Dedicated chapters explore fundamental nursing skills and mental health law before providing a case-based exploration of the areas and subjects that will be encountered by students in university and placement. Practice-based chapters introduce students to the needs of a diverse range of fictional clients and explain how the skills of communication, assessment, care planning and monitoring can be applied. Each chapter provides a sample care plan explaining why and how clinical decisions are made, so that students can develop their own skills and practice. The text opens with clear advice to help students succeed in their studies and concludes with a wealth of practical and thoughtful advice on becoming a professional and getting that first job. Online Resource Centre * Twenty one video clips of fictional service users demonstrate the application of theory and prepare students for real nursing practice * Quizzes, scenarios and a range of activities help students to apply their learning * Interactive glossary explains terminology and jargon * Sample CV's and self awareness exercises aid professional development

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Medication Monitoring for People with Dementia in Care Homes: The Feasibility and Clinical Impact of Nurse-Led Monitoring

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2014/843621 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Sue Jordan ◽

Marie Gabe ◽

Louise Newson ◽

Sherrill Snelgrove ◽

Gerwyn Panes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Adverse Drug Reaction ◽

Intervention Study ◽

Clinical Impact ◽

Care Homes ◽

Service Users ◽

Care Plans ◽

Medication Monitoring ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Before And After

Objectives. People with dementia are susceptible to adverse effects of medicines. However, they are not always closely monitored. We explored (1) feasibility and (2) clinical impact of nurse-led medication monitoring.Design. Feasibility “before-and-after” intervention study.Setting. Three care homes in Wales.Participants. Eleven service users diagnosed with dementia, taking at least one antipsychotic, antidepressant, or antiepileptic medicine.Intervention. West Wales Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Profile for Mental Health Medicines.Outcome Measures. (1) Feasibility: recruitment, retention, and implementation. (2) Clinical impact: previously undocumented problems identified and ameliorated, as recorded in participants’ records before and after introduction of the profile, and one month later.Results. Nurses recruited and retained 11 of 29 eligible service users. The profile took 20–25 minutes to implement, caused no harm, and supplemented usual care. Initially, the profile identified previously undocumented problems for all participants (mean 12.7 (SD 4.7)). One month later, some problems had been ameliorated (mean 4.9 (3.6)). Clinical gains included new prescriptions to manage pain (2 participants), psoriasis (1), Parkinsonian symptoms (1), rash (1), dose reduction of benzodiazepines (1), new care plans for oral hygiene, skin problems, and constipation.Conclusions. Participants benefited from structured nurse-led medication monitoring. Clinical trials of our ADR Profile are feasible and necessary.

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Now they’re listening: involvement in clinical psychology training

Mental Health and Social Inclusion ◽

10.1108/mhsi-07-2018-0027 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 23-29

Author(s):

Laura Lea ◽

Sue Holttum ◽

Victoria Butters ◽

Diana Byrne ◽

Helen Cable ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Clinical Psychology ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Service User ◽

Health Workers ◽

Psychology Training ◽

Service Users ◽

Clinical Psychology Training ◽

Content Type

PurposeThe 2014/2015 UK requirement for involvement of service users and carers in training mental health professionals has prompted the authors to review the work of involvement in clinical psychology training in the university programme. Have the voices of service users and carers been heard? The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors update the paper of 2011 in which the authors described the challenges of inclusion and the specific approaches the authors take to involvement. The authors do this in the context of the recent change to UK standards for service user and carer involvement, and recent developments in relation to partnership working and co-production in mental healthcare. The authors describe the work carried out by the authors – members of a service user involvement group at a UK university – to ensure the voices of people affected by mental health difficulties are included in all aspects of training.FindingsCareful work and the need for dedicated time is required to enable inclusive, effective and comprehensive participation in a mental health training programme. It is apparent that there is a group of service users whose voice is less heard: those who are training to be mental health workers.Social implicationsFor some people, involvement has increased. Trainee mental health professionals’ own experience of distress may need more recognition and valuing.Originality/valueThe authors are in a unique position to review a service-user-led project, which has run for 12 years, whose aim has been to embed involvement in training. The authors can identify both achievements and challenges.

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Changes in rehabilitation actors’ mental health literacy and support to employers: An evaluation of the SEAM intervention

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-213535 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Annika Lexén ◽

Maria Emmelin ◽

Lars Hansson ◽

Bengt Svensson ◽

Susann Porter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Return To Work ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Service Users ◽

Rehabilitation Professionals ◽

Knowledge And Beliefs ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND: Lack of mental health literacy among rehabilitation professionals and employers in the return-to-work of persons with mental health problems resulted in the development of a three-day group training program, the Support to Employers from rehabilitation Actors about Mental health (SEAM) intervention. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of SEAM on rehabilitation professionals’ knowledge and beliefs, attitudes, and supporting behaviors towards people with mental health problems and employers as part of the return-to-work process. METHODS: In this longitudinal study, 94 rehabilitation professionals were included. Data were collected prior to (T1), immediately after (T2) and 6 months after SEAM training (T3) using knowledge and attitude scales and a questionnaire on supporting behaviors. SEAM includes training in Mental Health First Aid, presentations and discussions on current research on work and mental health, and strategies and communication guidelines to use when meeting service users and employers as part of the return-to-work of persons with mental health problems. SEAM also includes a homepage with targeted employer information. Data were analyzed using non-parametric statistics. RESULTS: SEAM significantly increased rehabilitation professionals’ knowledge of mental health (T1-T2: z = –2.037, p = 0.042; T2-T3: z = –5.093, p = 0.001), and improved their attitudes towards persons with mental health problems (T1-T2: z = 4.984, p = 0.001). Professionals (50–60%) also estimated that they had increased their use of supporting strategies towards service users and employers. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that SEAM can increase mental health literacy among rehabilitation professionals and lead to a greater focus on service users’ resources and work ability, as well as on employers’ support needs.

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Producing a new website for a paediatric liaison mental health team with our service users

BMJ Open Quality ◽

10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001128 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. e001128

Author(s):

Alexander Adams ◽

Virginia Davies ◽

Bethany Stubbs

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Patient Experience ◽

Service Users ◽

Health Issues ◽

Web Page ◽

Mental Health Team ◽

Children And Young People ◽

Specific Feedback ◽

Source Of Information

IntroductionOnline resources are an important source of information about mental health issues and services for children and young people. Our service’s website had an out-of-date appearance and was aimed at professionals. More importantly, comments in our routinely collected patient experience data indicated that service users did not know what to expect when coming to our service.MethodsWe followed the model for improvement by testing out changes in plan, do, study and act cycles that included a review of recently updated child and adolescent mental health services’ and youth charities’ websites, designing a new web page for our service and then testing out the website in focus groups. We used routinely collected patient experience data to assess impact on wider patient satisfaction.ResultsFocus groups involving patients, parents and professionals judged the new website to be clearer, more attractive and easier to understand. Routine patient experience data did not reveal any website-specific feedback.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that it is easy and possible to create an attractive and accessible website for a mental health service using quality improvement methodology. In order to capture and integrate ongoing feedback about a service’s website from service users, routinely collected patient experience measures would need to ask specific questions related to this area. In this study, preproject and postproject patient experience data did not generate any specific comments.

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Perceptions of Ghanaian traditional health practitioners, primary health care workers, service users and caregivers regarding collaboration for mental health care

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-021-06313-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Solomon Nyame ◽

Edward Adiibokah ◽

Yasmin Mohammed ◽

Victor C. Doku ◽

Caleb Othieno ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Human Rights ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Service Users ◽

Traditional Health ◽

Healthcare Needs ◽

Primary Health ◽

Traditional Health Practitioners ◽

Health Practitioners

Abstract Background In low- and middle-income countries, the paucity of conventional health services means that many people with mental health problems rely on traditional health practitioners (THPs). This paper examines the possibility of forging partnerships at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level in two geopolitical regions of Ghana, to maximize the benefits to both health systems. Methods The study was a qualitative cross-sectional survey. Eight (8) focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted between February and April 2014. The views of THPs, PHC providers, service users (i.e. patients) and their caregivers, on the perceived benefits, barriers and facilitators of forging partnerships were examined. A thematic framework approach was employed for analysis. Results The study revealed that underlying the widespread approval of forging partnerships, there were mutual undertones of suspicion. While PHC providers were mainly concerned that THPs may incur harms to service users (e.g., through delays in care pathways and human rights abuses), service users and their caregivers highlighted the failure of conventional medical care to meet their healthcare needs. There are practical challenges to these collaborations, including the lack of options to adequately deal with human rights issues such as some patients being chained and exposed to the vagaries of the weather at THPs. There is also the issue of the frequent shortage of psychotropic medication at PHCs. Conclusion Addressing these barriers could enhance partnerships. There is also a need to educate all providers, which should include sessions clarifying the potential value of such partnerships.

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Co-creating visual representations of safe spaces with mental health service users using photovoice and zoom

Methods in Psychology ◽

10.1016/j.metip.2021.100059 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100059

Author(s):

Julie Dare ◽

Helen Seiver ◽

Lesley Andrew ◽

David Coall ◽

Shantha Karthigesu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Health Service ◽

Visual Representations ◽

Service Users ◽

Safe Spaces

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The social support, mental health, psychiatric symptoms, and functioning of persons with schizophrenia participating in peer co-delivered vocational rehabilitation: a pilot study in Taiwan

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-021-03277-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kan-Yuan Cheng ◽

Chia-Feng Yen

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Vocational Rehabilitation ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Skills Training ◽

Service Users ◽

Pilot Program ◽

The Social ◽

Functional Scores ◽

Persons With Schizophrenia

Abstract Background Vocational peer support (VPS) services are recovery-oriented interventions in modern psychiatric care for persons with schizophrenia. However, few VPS services are found in Taiwan. Hence, a pilot program of peer co-delivered vocational rehabilitation to support persons with schizophrenia in Taiwan was proposed and evaluated. Methods Six peers were trained and were willing to co-lead and assist workplace problem-solving groups and care skills training in an extended vocational rehabilitation program from August 2017 to December 2018. The social support, mental health, psychiatric symptoms, and functioning of service users were assessed before and after peer co-delivered services, and the assessments were based on the following: Social Support Scale (SSS), Chinese Health Questionnaire-12 (CHQ-12), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Global Assessment of Function (GAF), and the Chinese version of the Social Functioning Scale (C-SFS). Results The recruited 46 service users were mostly middle-aged (49.1 ± 9.8), with 27 being male (58.7%). After interventions, 42 service users who completed the program had a significantly increased SSS score (149.1 ± 31.8 vs. 161.2 ± 35.0, df = 41, t = 2.70, p = 0.01) and subscale of friend-peer dimension (44.4 ± 12.0 vs. 53.2 ± 13.2, df = 41, t = 4.72, p < 0.001). The objective (GAF: 69.8 ± 9.8 vs. 72.6 ± 8.8, df = 41, t = 3.50, p = 0.001) and subjective social functional scores (C-SFS: 75.2 ± 8.8 vs. 78.1 ± 9.5, df = 41, t = 2.59, p = 0.01) both significantly increased. The weekly wage elevated significantly (37.5 ± 35.5 vs. 43.6 ± 38.0, df = 41, t = 2.57, p = 0.01) and the BPRS-18 score decreased significantly, too (31.2 ± 6.7 vs. 29.3 ± 5.0, df = 41, t = − 2.83, p = 0.007). Conclusions Peer co-delivered vocational rehabilitation services may enhance the social support received by persons with schizophrenia and improve their occupational outcomes. The pilot program proposed can thus be a model for non-Western countries with limited resources allocated by governments to support persons with schizophrenia. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials NCT04767204, retrospectively registered on Feb 23, 2021.

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