scholarly journals Mental health support services for medical students: a systematic review

Author(s):  
Maryana Guimarães de Morais ◽  
Isabella Morais Arantes de Oliveira e Silva ◽  
Estela Ribeiro Versiani ◽  
Claudia Cardoso Gomes da Silva ◽  
Ana Socorro de Moura

Abstract: Introduction: Considering the high prevalence of mental health problems among medical students, medical schools should be ethically committed to promote student’s mental health, offering health services and prevention strategies. Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to identify scientific publications on mental health services offered by Brazilian universities to medical students, as well as the professionals involved and the types of interventions most often offered. Method: Systematic literature review, following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). The Scielo, PubMed/Medline, Lilacs, ERIC, The Cochrane Library and CAPES databases were searched for studies published until August 2020, as well as theses and dissertations. The studies were screened, selected, analyzed and relevant data were extracted by two independent reviewers. Results: 16 studies were included. The identified mental health services resort to different strategies towards a common goal of promoting medical students’ mental health. The interventions most frequently found in these services are brief psychotherapy, psychiatric care, psychological-educational guidance and mentoring programs. Most services were created to attend medical students and some of these have been extended to other undergraduate students. In the analyzed services, there is a predominance of multidisciplinary teams, which differ regarding the number and categories of professionals involved. Conclusion: Mental health support services for medical students in Brazil differ both in terms of how they work within the institutions and in terms of the involved professionals. It was observed that publications on these services are scarce when compared to the number of institutions that offer the undergraduate medical course in Brazil. Aiming to expand and consolidate actions aimed at promoting medical students’ mental health in Brazilian higher education institutions, further research on this topic is required.

Author(s):  
Maryana Guimarães de Morais ◽  
Isabella Morais Arantes de Oliveira e Silva ◽  
Estela Ribeiro Versiani ◽  
Claudia Cardoso Gomes da Silva ◽  
Ana Socorro de Moura

Abstract: Introduction: Considering the high prevalence of mental health problems among medical students, medical schools should be ethically committed to promote student’s mental health, offering health services and prevention strategies. Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to identify scientific publications on mental health services offered by Brazilian universities to medical students, as well as the professionals involved and the types of interventions most often offered. Method: Systematic literature review, following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). The Scielo, PubMed/Medline, Lilacs, ERIC, The Cochrane Library and CAPES databases were searched for studies published until August 2020, as well as theses and dissertations. The studies were screened, selected, analyzed and relevant data were extracted by two independent reviewers. Results: 16 studies were included. The identified mental health services resort to different strategies towards a common goal of promoting medical students’ mental health. The interventions most frequently found in these services are brief psychotherapy, psychiatric care, psychological-educational guidance and mentoring programs. Most services were created to attend medical students and some of these have been extended to other undergraduate students. In the analyzed services, there is a predominance of multidisciplinary teams, which differ regarding the number and categories of professionals involved. Conclusion: Mental health support services for medical students in Brazil differ both in terms of how they work within the institutions and in terms of the involved professionals. It was observed that publications on these services are scarce when compared to the number of institutions that offer the undergraduate medical course in Brazil. Aiming to expand and consolidate actions aimed at promoting medical students’ mental health in Brazilian higher education institutions, further research on this topic is required.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Newbronner ◽  
Panagiotis Spanakis ◽  
Ruth Wadman ◽  
Suzanne Crosland ◽  
Paul Heron ◽  
...  

Aims: To explore: how satisfied people with severe mental illness (SMI) are with the support received during the pandemic; understand any difficulties encountered when accessing both mental health and primary care services; consider ways to mitigate these difficulties; and assess the perceived need for future support from mental health services. Materials and Methods: A representative sample was drawn from a large transdiagnostic clinical cohort of people with SMI, which was recruited between April 2016 and March 2020. The sample was re-surveyed a few months after the beginning of the restrictions. Descriptive frequency statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data. The free text responses were analysed thematically. Results: 367 participants responded to the survey. Two thirds were receiving support from mental health services with the rest supported in primary care or self-managing. A quarter thought they would need more mental health support in the coming year. Half had needed to used community mental health services during the pandemic and the majority had been able to get support. A minority reported that their mental health had deteriorated but they had either not got the supported they wanted or had not sought help. The biggest service change was the reduction in face-to-face appointments and increasing use of phone and video call support. Nearly half of those using mental health services found this change acceptable or even preferred it; acceptability was influenced by several factors. Participants were more likely to be satisfied with support received when seen in person. Discussion: Although most participants were satisfied with the mental health support they had received, a minority were not. This, couple with findings on future need for mental health support has implications for post pandemic demand on services. Remote care has brought benefits but also risks that it could increase inequalities in access to services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Szlamka ◽  
Márta Kiss ◽  
Sámuel Bernáth ◽  
Péter Kámán ◽  
Amina Lubani ◽  
...  

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) posed unexpected global economic and societal challenges. These include a heavy impact on mental health due to fast changing lockdown and quarantine measures, uncertainty about health and safety and the prospect of new waves of infections. To provide crisis mental health support during the pandemic, Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary launched a specialist online counselling programme, consisting of one to three sessions. The programme was available to all university members between 4th March and 25th May 2020. Overall, 47 clients received support. In this paper we discuss challenges reported by clients, key features of providing a brief mental health intervention online, reflect on counsellor experiences and give recommendations on how mental health services could be developed in the time of crisis. Most clients had challenges with developing a daily routine under quarantine; and many had hardship related to finances, housing, and distance learning. Common mental health consequences included fear from the virus and stress, anxiety, and fatigue due to the interruption to everyday life. In some cases, more complex conditions were triggered by the pandemic. Examples include addictive behaviours and symptoms of depression or psychosis. However, referring cases beyond the competency of counselling proved to be a challenge due to the closure of specialist services. Counsellors observed three key features to the online delivery of a brief crisis mental health intervention: [1] an explicit problem-oriented approach to counselling; [2] challenges of building rapport online; and [3] frames of online counselling. Counsellor experiences often overlapped with those of clients and included challenges of working from home and adjusting to online counselling methods. The possibility of online counselling allowed that mental health care could take place at all during the pandemic. Client experiences reflect findings from previous literature. Like other mental health initiatives launched to tackle COVID-19, the intervention's effectiveness was not measured given the unexpected context and short time frame for programme development. We recommend the use of impact measurement tools to develop mental health services in crises. Meanwhile, the pandemic brought to attention the need to better understand online delivery models. Counsellors should have access to training opportunities on online counselling and managing work-life balance in a remote setting. The COVID-19 counselling programme in Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary is an example of providing online mental health counselling in the time of crisis. Clearly, more studies are needed discussing delivery models and effectiveness of mental health interventions during the pandemic. Experience and knowledge sharing across practitioners should be encouraged to improve how the field reacts to unexpected, high risk events and crises.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e017080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra Piat ◽  
Eleni Sofouli ◽  
Judith Sabetti ◽  
Angella Lambrou ◽  
Howard Chodos ◽  
...  

IntroductionRecovery is integral to mental health planning in G-8 countries including Canada. A recovery-oriented approach to care aims to promote personal empowerment, illness self-management and a life beyond services for people with serious mental illness (SMI), while reducing the financial burden associated with mental illness. Although there is a growing body of literature on recovery, no synthesis of research on the implementation of recovery into mental health services exists.ObjectivesThe objective is to conduct a mixed studies systematic review on the operationalisation of recovery into mental health services for adults with SMI. It will inform the transformation of Canadian services to a recovery orientation, but may be applicable to other countries.Methods and analysisSeven databases including PubMed, Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, Ovid PsycInfo, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library and Scopus will be searched for peer-reviewed empirical studies published from 1998 to December 2016. Systematic reviews and studies using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies will be included. Secondary searches will be conducted in reference lists of all selected full text articles. Handsearches will also be performed in the tables of contents of three recovery-focused journals for the last 5 years. International experts in the field will be contacted for comments and advice. Data extraction will include identification and methodological synthesis of each study; definition of recovery; information on recovery implementation; facilitators and barriers and study outcomes. A quality assessment will be conducted on each study. The data will be synthesised and a stepwise thematic analysis performed.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required for this knowledge synthesis. Findings will be disseminated through knowledge translation activities including: (1) a 1-day symposium; (2) presentations in national and international conferences and to local stakeholders; (3) publications in peer-reviewed journals; (4) posts on the organisational websites.


Author(s):  
Lauren Stephanie Jones ◽  
Ailsa Russell ◽  
Emma Collis ◽  
Mark Brosnan

AbstractDigital communication technologies can be used for team consultation, case management, and information sharing in health and mental health services for children and young people (CYP). The objective of the systematic review was to investigate the evidence as to whether digitally-mediated team communication for CYP improves outcomes. We searched PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for relevant studies. Results were synthesised narratively. Seven studies were identified from 439 initial records. Analysis highlighted that digitally-mediated team communication is generally valued by professionals for supporting practice and that there is overall satisfaction with the process. There was preliminary evidence (from one study) that clinical outcomes from digitally-mediated team communication are comparable to those achieved by a collaborative service model with direct specialist care to service users via digital communication technology. There is a need for further high-quality research into clinical outcomes and service user experience, as well as financial implications.


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