Mental health staff are missing symptoms of cancer in service users

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 4-4
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Boland ◽  
Michele Abendstern ◽  
Mark Wilberforce ◽  
Rosa Pitts ◽  
Jane Hughes ◽  
...  

Summary The article addresses the continued lack of clarity about the role of the mental health social worker within community mental health teams for working age adults and particularly the limited evidence regarding this from the perspective of service users. It compares findings from the literature, found to originate from a predominantly professional viewpoint, with secondary analysis of a national survey of service users to assess their views. Findings Three particular aspects of mental health social workers’ role identified in the literature were, to some extent, also located within the national survey and can be summarised as: approaches to practice, nature of involvement, and scope of support. The presence of these features was largely not substantiated by the survey results, with few differences evident between service users’ experiences of mental health social workers compared with other mental health staff. When nurses and social workers were compared, results were either the same for both professions or favoured nurses. The findings point both to the difficulty of articulating the social work contribution and to the limitations of the secondary data. Application The findings are a useful benchmark, highlighting the limited evidence base and the need for further research to improve both the understanding of the mental health social work role and how it is experienced by service users. The profession is keen to emphasise its specific contribution. Research evidence is required to underscore this and to ensure that the role is not subsumed within generic practice.


2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kudlur Thyarappa Praveen ◽  
Swamy Nirvana Chandrappa Kudlur ◽  
Rudresh Paramishiyaiah Hanabe ◽  
Adeyemi Tiwalade Egbewunmi

Aims and MethodOur aim was to explore attitudes of in-patient mental health staff to smoking and the smoking ban. A questionnaire was distributed to staff (n=450) working at National Health Service psychiatric units in three different locations.ResultsWe obtained 308 responses, at a response rate of 68.4%. Staff were generally less permissive towards smoking in mental health units when compared with previous studies. However, most (78.9%) feared that service users' states would deteriorate if they were not allowed to smoke.Clinical ImplicationsWe found small but noticeable change in staff attitudes following initial reforms in smoking policy. However, there is a need for further significant change in staff attitudes to facilitate implementation of a total smoking ban from July 2008.


2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Waller ◽  
Philippa Garety ◽  
Suzanne Jolley ◽  
Miriam Fornells-Ambrojo ◽  
Elizabeth Kuipers ◽  
...  

Background: Increasing access to evidence-based talking therapies for people with psychosis is a national health priority. We have piloted a new, “low intensity” (LI) CBT intervention specifically designed to be delivered by frontline mental health staff, following brief training, and with ongoing supervision and support. A pilot feasibility study has demonstrated significant improvement in service user outcomes. This study is a qualitative analysis of the experiences of the staff and service users taking part in the evaluation. Aims: To evaluate the acceptability of the training protocol and the therapy, and to examine the factors promoting and restraining implementation. Method: All trained staff and service users completed a semi-structured interview that was transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Service users spoke about learning new skills and achieving their goals. Staff spoke about being able to use a brief, structured intervention to achieve positive outcomes for their clients. Both groups felt that longer, more sophisticated interventions were required to address more complex problems. The positive clinical outcomes motivated therapists to continue using the approach, despite organizational barriers. Conclusions: For both trained staff and service users, taking part in the study was a positive experience. Staff members’ perceived skill development and positive reaction to seeing their clients improve should help to promote implementation. Work is needed to clarify whether and how more complex difficulties should be addressed by frontline staff.


2021 ◽  
pp. 103985622110142
Author(s):  
Karuppiah Jagadheesan ◽  
Frances Walker ◽  
Vijay Danivas ◽  
Quratulain Itrat ◽  
Vinay Lakra

Objectives: (i) to describe the operational strategies implemented to practise electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) safely, and (ii) to explore the effect of the lockdown and operational strategies on the characteristics of patients who received ECT during the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: At first, the operational strategies that were implemented at the Broadmeadows ECT suite were summarised. Subsequently, the characteristics of patients who received ECT in the lockdown period (16 March–16 September 2020) and in the comparison period (16 March–16 September 2019) were compared. Results: Many safety measures were implemented, and there was no COVID-19 infection among mental health staff and patients. In the lockdown period, the number of patients (23.9%) and the total number of ECTs (29.4%) were less. This pattern was more prominent among the aged patients. Conclusion: Safe practices are essential to provide ECT during lockdowns even when the community transmission of COVID-19 is high.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Crowther ◽  
A. Taylor ◽  
R. Toney ◽  
S. Meddings ◽  
T. Whale ◽  
...  

AbstractAimsRecovery Colleges are opening internationally. The evaluation focus has been on outcomes for Recovery College students who use mental health services. However, benefits may also arise for: staff who attend or co-deliver courses; the mental health and social care service hosting the Recovery College; and wider society. A theory-based change model characterising how Recovery Colleges impact at these higher levels is needed for formal evaluation of their impact, and to inform future Recovery College development. The aim of this study was to develop a stratified theory identifying candidate mechanisms of action and outcomes (impact) for Recovery Colleges at staff, services and societal levels.MethodsInductive thematic analysis of 44 publications identified in a systematised review was supplemented by collaborative analysis involving a lived experience advisory panel to develop a preliminary theoretical framework. This was refined through semi-structured interviews with 33 Recovery College stakeholders (service user students, peer/non-peer trainers, managers, community partners, clinicians) in three sites in England.ResultsCandidate mechanisms of action and outcomes were identified at staff, services and societal levels. At the staff level, experiencing new relationships may change attitudes and associated professional practice. Identified outcomes for staff included: experiencing and valuing co-production; changed perceptions of service users; and increased passion and job motivation. At the services level, Recovery Colleges often develop somewhat separately from their host system, reducing the reach of the college into the host organisation but allowing development of an alternative culture giving experiential learning opportunities to staff around co-production and the role of a peer workforce. At the societal level, partnering with community-based agencies gave other members of the public opportunities for learning alongside people with mental health problems and enabled community agencies to work with people they might not have otherwise. Recovery Colleges also gave opportunities to beneficially impact on community attitudes.ConclusionsThis study is the first to characterise the mechanisms of action and impact of Recovery Colleges on mental health staff, mental health and social care services, and wider society. The findings suggest that a certain distance is needed in the relationship between the Recovery College and its host organisation if a genuine cultural alternative is to be created. Different strategies are needed depending on what level of impact is intended, and this study can inform decision-making about mechanisms to prioritise. Future research into Recovery Colleges should include contextual evaluation of these higher level impacts, and investigate effectiveness and harms.


1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Wooff ◽  
D. P. Goldberg ◽  
T. Fryers

The context and content of work undertaken with individual clients by community psychiatric nurses (CPNs) and mental health social workers (MHSWs) in Salford were found to be significantly different. Although there were some areas of overlap, the ways in which the two professions worked were quite distinct. MHSWs discussed a wide range of topics and were as concerned with clients' interactions with family and community networks as they were with symptoms. Their interviews with schizophrenic clients followed a similar pattern to those with other groups, and they worked closely with psychiatrists and other mental health staff. CPNs, on the other hand, focused mainly on psychiatric symptoms, treatment arrangements, and medications, and spent significantly less time with individual psychotic clients than they did with patients suffering from neuroses. They were as likely to be in contact with general practitioners as they were with psychiatrists, and had fewer contacts with other mental health staff than the MHSWs. There was evidence that the long-term care of chronic psychiatric patients living outside hospital required more co-ordinated long-term multidisciplinary input.


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