scholarly journals Improving attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine in forensic mental health workers: a quality improvement project

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S194-S194
Author(s):  
Harrison Howarth ◽  
Toby Stevens ◽  
Benjamin Gostick ◽  
Lisanne Stock ◽  
David Stone
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Forensic Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The Creation

AimsThe primary aim of the project was to improve attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine in forensic mental health staff at a large regional tertiary forensic psychiatry unit. The main variable examined was attitudes towards safety of the vaccine. Secondary aims included decreasing misinformation about the vaccine and improving vaccine uptake.MethodPaper questionnaires were distributed to willing staff members across 6 forensic inpatient wards within the North London Forensic Service. Participants included a range of allied health professionals including nurses, health care assistants, ward managers, occupational therapists, assistant therapists and administrative staff. Questionnaires used a mixture of Likert scale for agreement/disagreement with statements and yes/no questions.Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology was utilised in implementing changes, and repeat questionnaires used to measure changes in attitude and behaviour. Change ideas implemented included the creation of ‘mythbusters’ posters which target vaccine misinformation, the creation and distribution of posters of staff members who had already taken their vaccine, the creation of vaccine champions to aid engagement in conversation about the vaccine, vaccine information packs being distributed to all wards and the opportunity for staff to ‘drop-in’ to clinics for information about the vaccine.ResultVaccine uptake improved from 7% before interventions to 69% after interventions.The proportion of people very unlikely or unlikely to get the vaccine reduced from 25% to just 9%. The proportion of those feeling neutral reduced from 32% to 6%. The proportion of those either likely or very likely to get the vaccine increased from 34% to 85%.Before interventions only 20% felt that the vaccine was either safe or very safe. This improved to 63% after interventionsBefore interventions, only 27% of respondents felt they had received enough information by the trust to make an informed decision. After interventions, 80% said they had received enough information.The project was successful in reducing misinformation in every domain. Particularly reassuring was the reduction to zero of some of the most harmful misinformation claims, such as the presence of a tracking chip in the vaccine and the belief that COVID does not exist.71% of respondents indicated the interventions we set out changed their view on the COVID-19 vaccine.ConclusionThe changes implemented lead to clear improvements in all domains measured, suggesting targeted information is an effective strategy in improving uptake and attitudes around the vaccination program.

scholarly journals Mental health staff views on improving burnout and mental toughness

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-259
Author(s):  
Zoe Posner ◽  
Jessie Janssen ◽  
Hazel Roddam
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Nominal Group Technique ◽  
Mental Toughness ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West

Purpose Burnout in mental health staff is acknowledged as a major problem. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of mental health staff views on improving burnout and mental toughness in mental health staff. Design/methodology/approach Ten participants from two mental health rehabilitation units across the north-west of England took part in a Nominal Group Technique. Participants consisted of mental health workers from varied roles in order to capture views from a multidisciplinary team. The main question posed to the staff was “What strategies and techniques do you think could help improve burnout and mental toughness in mental health staff”. Findings The study revealed that the top three ideas to take forward to help improve burnout and mental toughness in mental health staff were improving the culture/organisation, improving staff wellbeing and education. Additionally, staff were highly motivated and enthusiastic about engaging in discussion about what could be done to improve their wellbeing and the importance of taking this forward. Originality/value This study is unique in involving mental health staff in discussing their ways of improving their mental health. It is also unique as it has found the nine strategies to do this and these could be used in targeted training for mental health staff.

Improving Community-Based Services for Older Patients with Depression: The Benefits of an Educational and Service Initiative

2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Mutch ◽  
Margaret Tobin ◽  
Ian Hickie ◽  
Carolyn Mutch ◽  
Margaret Tobin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Older Patients ◽  
Community Mental Health Services ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Educational Initiative ◽  
Improvement Project

Objective: The objective of this study was to report a quality improvement project for older patients with depression. The initiative focused on both clinical practice changes (improvement of medical, neurocognitive and behavioural assessment) and service development (greater continuity of care). Method: After initial identification of key deficits, implementation of a service and educational initiative took place within a district mental health service. The service consisted of an inpatient unit, a specialized psychogeriatric service and two adult community mental health services. Mental health staff received education regarding the specific needs of older patients with depression and were provided with assessment materials, patient education and treatment aids. General practitioners participated in shared long-term management. Results: Following graded implementation, the management of 44 subjects (mean age = 65.4 years, 91% female) recruited over an 8-month period was reviewed. Compared with 99 subjects (mean age = 68.9 years, 69% female) from the earlier 12-month assessment phase, there were significant improvements in medical (43% to 92%), neurocognitive (37% to 84%) and behavioural (e.g. suicidal ideation: 78% to 100%) assessments. Similarly, relevant laboratory investigations (neuroimaging: 21% to 67%) and communication with general practitioners (73% to 97%) improved. The most change occurred in the adult community-based treatment services. Conclusions: A coordinated management and educational initiative resulted in marked improvement in basic medical and psychiatric assessment and more integrated care. These changes did not require expansion of specialist services.

Mental Health Staff: to Promote Resilience, to Reduce The Risk of Burnout

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S486-S486
Author(s):  
N. Semenova ◽  
A. Palin ◽  
I. Gurovich
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Staff Retention ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Stressful Environment ◽  
Management Interventions

IntroductionStress and burnout are clearly problems for mental health workers. In this paper, we present data from research study on moderators of burnout in mental health staff.Objectives/aimsThe purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of resilience as experienced by Russian mental health clinicians working in a highly demanding, specialized and stressful environment (e.g., staff shortages, health service shortages, not being notified of changes before they occurred).MethodsThe study used a range of self report questionnaires. Measures included a demographic checklist, the Hardiness Survey (Maddi 1984), and the GCOS – The General Causality Orientation Scale (Deci & Ryan 1985). The participants for this study were drawn from Medico-rehabilitation Unit, Psychiatric hospital, – the disciplines of psychiatry, clinical psychology and nursing. In all, 10 ward based mental health professionals were surveyed.ResultsThis paper outlines the results of these measures. This in turn allows us to develop intervention strategy to ensure an effective provision, which depends on satisfied professionals, who have a sense of ownership over what they do and an ability to shape the direction of their endeavours.ConclusionsThe study's findings have the potential to inform organizations in mental health to promote resilience in clinicians, to deliver stress management interventions for staff with the potential to reduce the risk of burnout and hence staff attrition, staff retention and mental health.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Staff attitudes to completely smoke-free policies and smoking cessation practices in a mental health setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-411
Author(s):  
A Ratier-Cruz ◽  
J G Smith ◽  
M Firn ◽  
M Rinaldi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Staff Attitudes ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Mental Health Settings

ABSTRACT Background Mental health trusts in England were expected to become completely smoke-free and embed smoking cessation practices by 2018. Such policies are fraught with concerns and have received mixed support from mental health staff. Understanding staff attitudes to these practices prior to enforcement of the policy could help design an effective implementation strategy. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with clinical and non-clinical staff in a Mental Health Trust to understand smoking cessation practices and attitudes to the implementation of a completely smoke-free policy. Results There were 631 responses. Most participants disagreed with the policy on wards (59.6%) and throughout all mental health settings (57.4%). Clinicians expressed significantly lower organizational policy support (P = 0.001) than non-clinicians (P = 0.001). Psychiatrists were more supportive of the organizational items than nurses and allied health professionals. Clinicians’ attitudes towards smoking cessation practices were less positive for those who were current smokers (P < 0.001), but more positive for clinicians who had received or were interested in attending smoking cessation training (P < 0.001). Conclusions Partial and completely smoke-free policies remain unsupported by staff in mental health settings. Smoking cessation training appears to reinforce rather than alter attitudes towards smoking cessation.

scholarly journals Evaluating patients and healthcare professionals' understanding of voting rights for patients in government elections

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S301-S301
Author(s):  
Mark Winchester ◽  
Madiha Majid ◽  
Ashok Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Right To Vote

AimsTo understand whether mental health patients vote in government electionsTo ascertain the barriers that prevent them from doing soTo explore ways in which mental health services can support patients to voteTo determine whether mental health staff are aware of patients’ right to voteBackgroundMembers of Parliament (MPs) can influence decisions regarding the National Health Service (NHS) and mental health legislation. The general election on 12th December 2019 highlighted that many patients were not using their democratic right to vote. It also appeared that many staff members were not aware that patients under the Mental Health Act (MHA) were entitled to vote (except for those under ‘forensic’ sections of the MHA). We therefore conducted a survey to ascertain both patient and staff understanding of their democratic rights and to better understand how we could increase the rate of voting amongst psychiatric patients.MethodTwo questionnaires were produced, one for patients and the other for staff members. This was tested by the clinical governance team before approval was granted. Data were collected at the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust in the form of paper forms or electronically through a survey website. Forty-two patients and twenty-five staff members responded.ResultNo staff members had received formal training with regards to patients’ right to vote. Over half of staff members incorrectly believed that patients under Section 2 or 3 of the MHA and those lacking capacity couldn't vote. More than half of the team members surveyed stated that they had not supported patients in registering or casting a vote. Roughly one third of healthcare professionals felt that it was their responsibility to promote patients’ right to vote, with one third disagreeing and the remaining third unsure.Over 75% of patients did not vote but less than one quarter of all patients surveyed felt support from mental health services would increase the likelihood of them voting. The main barriers to voting were being mentally unwell, hospital admission or a lack of knowledge on the candidates and election process.ConclusionBasic training is required to improve staff knowledge of patients’ voting rights, which should help improve their ability to support patients to vote. Trusts should have a clear protocol in place in the event of future elections, with information on who can vote, how to request a postal vote and the candidates in that area.

The Use of Humor in Forensic Mental Health Staff–Patient Interactions

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik A. Gildberg ◽  
Stephen K. Bradley ◽  
Kristian J. Paaske ◽  
Lise Hounsgaard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Forensic Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
Patient Interactions

Experiences of nurses and other health workers participating in a reflective course on compassion-based care

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (15) ◽  
pp. 1020-1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Donald ◽  
Ian Wilson ◽  
Jodie McCarthy ◽  
Ian Hall ◽  
Brenda Crossley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Compassion Fatigue ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Healthcare Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mental Health Staff ◽  
North West ◽  
Participant Experience ◽  
Staff Experiences

Background: the risk of compassion fatigue in healthcare staff is real, especially when considering the current financial pressures. A course in compassion-based care (CBC) was delivered to mental health staff at a hospital in north-west England, with the intention of rehabilitating ward culture and, subsequently, improving patient experience. Aims: to explore staff experiences of participating in the CBC course. Methods: a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with participants (n=12) was conducted. All staff attending the course were eligible and were invited to participate. Interview transcripts were thematically analysed. Findings: five themes characterising participant experience emerged from the data: meeting a need; creating the space; reorientation; prioritising self-care; and influencing team dynamics. Data overwhelmingly indicated the success of the CBC course. Conclusion: the CBC course appeared to have a profound effect on participants; it should be considered for further rollout and evaluation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document