scholarly journals Schwartz Centre Rounds: qualitative exploration of panel members’ experiences within a forensic mental health service

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Emma Groves ◽  
Rachel Collinson ◽  
Amy Hegarty ◽  
Elshiema Hamad ◽  
Tyler-Dee Asadi ◽  
...  

Schwartz Centre Rounds (SCRs) provide a structured forum for staff from all disciplines to meet and discuss the difficult emotional and social challenges that arise in caring for patients. Research into the implementation of SCRs has shown that staff who attend report increased insight into the emotional and social aspects of care; greater understanding of the roles of their colleagues; improved teamworking and decreased feelings of isolation and stress. However, little research has explored the implementation of SCRs within forensic settings, and no research has focused solely on the experiences of panel members. Three focus groups were facilitated with participants who had participated in a SCR panel within a forensic mental health service. Semi-structured interviews were carried out, audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was utilised to analyse the transcripts, and four key themes were identified. These themes were: feeling vulnerable, the importance of validation, exposure to intense emotional experiences and improved understanding and connection. We conclude that SCRs can be an emotionally challenging but rewarding experience, with the potential to enhance teamworking and general well-being. Limitations and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-279
Author(s):  
Chris Dayson ◽  
Jo Painter ◽  
Ellen Bennett

Purpose This paper aims to identify the well-being outcomes of a social prescribing model set within a secondary mental health service recovery pathway and understand the key characteristics of a social prescribing referral for producing these outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study of one mental health social prescribing service with three nested case studies of social prescribing providers. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with commissioners, providers and patients (n = 20) and analysed thematically. Findings Social prescribing makes a positive contribution to emotional, psychological and social well-being for patients of secondary mental health services. A key enabling mechanism of the social prescribing model was the supportive discharge pathway which provided opportunities for sustained engagement in community activities, including participation in peer-to-peer support networks and volunteering. Research limitations/implications More in-depth research is required to fully understand when, for whom and in what circumstances social prescribing is effective for patients of secondary mental health services. Practical implications A supported social prescribing referral, embedded within a recovery focussed secondary mental health service pathway, offers a valuable accompaniment to traditional approaches. Current social prescribing policy is focussed on increasing the number of link workers in primary care, but this study highlights the importance models embedded within secondary care and of funding VCSE organisations to receive referrals and provide pathways for long-term engagement, enabling positive outcomes to be sustained. Originality/value Social prescribing is widely advocated in policy and practice but there are few examples of social prescribing models having been developed in secondary mental health services, and no published academic studies that everybody are aware of.


2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 977-987
Author(s):  
Mark Dalgarno ◽  
Jennifer Oates

Objectives: This study explored healthcare professionals’ accounts of being practitioner trainers in a mental health Recovery College, where they worked with peer trainers, who were people with lived experience of mental illness, to co-produce workshops for mental health service users and staff. The aim of this study was to understand the process of co-production in the Recovery College from the perspective of practitioner trainers. Design: Single-site case study. Setting: A Recovery College in the South of England, open to staff and service users from one mental health care provider organisation. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with eight mental healthcare professionals. Transcripts were thematically analysed. Results: A central image of ‘the workshop as crucible’ emerged from the three themes derived from the analysis. Co-facilitating the workshop was a ‘structured’ encounter, within which health professionals experienced ‘dynamism’ and change. For them, this involved experiences of ‘challenge and discomfort’. Conclusion: Findings from this study contribute to the evidence base for the evaluation of Recovery Colleges by focusing on the training impact on staff. Findings suggest that taking on a trainer role in Recovery College co-production is beneficial for healthcare professionals as well as mental health service users, especially if healthcare professionals are open to the dynamism and possible discomfort of these workshop encounters. Future research, however, should expand beyond single-site case studies to test the extent to which this metaphor and themes are appropriate to describing the ‘transformative’ element of co-production.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Cartwright ◽  
Daniel Lawrence ◽  
Christopher Hartwright

Purpose This study aimed to explore how forensic mental health service users make sense of their past adverse experiences. Secondly, it aimed to explore whether service users considered their adverse experiences to be related to their current stay in a forensic mental health setting. Design/methodology/approach Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse interviews with eight service users in low and medium secure care. Six of the participants were male and two were female. Findings Four super-ordinate themes emerged from the data: “Living amongst adversity”; “Managing adverse experiences”; “Making sense of going into secure care”; and “Coping with the past in the present”. All participants referred to multiple adverse experiences throughout their lives and used harmful coping strategies to manage these. Individual differences in how they related their past experiences to their detention in secure care were evident. Practical implications Author guidelines state that this section is optional. Implications for clinical practice are discussed at length in the discussion section. Originality/value This study offers an insight into the way in which forensic mental health service users make sense of their past traumas in relation to their current admission to secure services. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research has previously addressed this from the perspective of service users.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Håkan Bøsndbo ◽  
Børge Mathiassen ◽  
Monica Martinussen ◽  
Bjørn Helge Håndegard ◽  
Siv Kvernmo

We examined the agreement between diagnoses assigned based on the Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA) information collected online, and ordinary day-to-day diagnostic assignment by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) clinicians. Diagnoses were compared for 286 patients. Raw agreement for diagnostic categories was 74-90%, resulting in kappa values of 0.41-0.49. Multinomial regression models for ‘emotional diagnosis’ and ‘hyperkinetic/conduct diagnosis’ were significant ( P < 0.001). Age, gender and number of informants significantly contributed to the explanation of agreement and disagreement. Agreement on mental health diagnoses may be sufficient to replace routine clinical assignment of diagnoses with an online clinical assignment, thereby saving time and resources.


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