BMC Psychiatry

Early Support Hubs have recently become widespread in the UK and aim to provide community-based, easy access mental health support to young people aged 11-25, integrating a variety of forms of support. Evidence is needed on the role such services aim to fulfil in addressing young peoples mental health needs, perceived good practice in their operations and challenges encountered in achieving this. In order to understand this, we conducted individual interviews with 24 staff members from eight Hub...

BackgroundThe Dynamic Sustainability Framework emphasizes the need for improving programs after implementation in response to the evolving environment. This report illustrates said framework and describes significant changes made to the Psychiatric Day Hospital (DH) at North York General Hospital (NYGH) in response to pandemic-related changes in participant demographic. Patient and staff satisfaction pre- and post-program modification are compared. ProblemThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in incre...

There is an urgent need for services to address the social and economic adversities which contribute to the aetiology and outcomes of mental health problems. However, the implementation of interventions to do so is inconsistent, and entrenched cycles of poor mental health and social exclusion persist. We conducted a service evaluation survey of 28 staff working across community and inpatient teams, enhanced by a series of in-depth case studies, in the largest NHS mental health trust in the UK to...

Romantic/intimate relationships are an important part of most peoples lives, including people with mental health problems. However, people with mental health problems continue to have little access to support around romantic/intimate relationships. This study aimed to investigate social care staff perspectives on supporting people with romantic/intimate relationships. We conducted 15 qualitative interviews with mental health social care staff to explore their views on supporting people using ser...

Mental health service users often voice a need for support regarding romantic/intimate relationships, yet staff face barriers in delivering that support. Given the importance of intimacy to well-being and recovery, this systematic review aimed to synthesise the available qualitative literature on mental health practitioners views and experiences of supporting peoples needs for romantic/intimate relationships. We conducted searches on four research publication databases. Quality of studies was as...

BackgroundInvolving service users in decisions about their care is essential to delivering recovery-orientated mental health services. Research shows, however, that service users often are not involved in the assessment and management of the risk component of their care. This paper explores mental health professionals perceptions of the barriers and enablers to shared decision-making in risk assessment and management. MethodsWe conducted semilJstructured interviews with fifteen mental health pr...

BackgroundQualitative research has identified factors affecting transition from child mental health services (CAMHS) to adult mental health services (AMHS) but it is unclear which of these factors may lead to disengagement from the young persons view. MethodsN= 272 participants (mean age = 20+/-2.31, 81% females) who had experience with the UK mental healthcare system (patients, carers, health workers) attempted the survey but only participants who had been treated in CAMHS were included in thi...

BackgroundMost people seek to establish romantic or intimate relationships in life, including people with mental health problems. However, this has been a neglected topic in mental health practice and research. This study aimed to investigate views of mental health and social care staff about the appropriateness of helping service users with romantic relationships, barriers to doing this, and suggestions for useful ways to support this. MethodsAn online survey comprising both closed, multiple r...

BackgroundPeer support roles in mental health services are rapidly increasing in the UK and internationally. However, there is wide variation in these roles and limited research exploring the ways in which Peer Support Workers (PSWs) are currently working. We aimed to explore: 1) the distinctive features of PSWs approaches in mental healthcare; 2) the values underpinning the role and 3) the perceived impact of the role. MethodsWe conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with paid mental...

AimThe aim of this study was to explore suicidal patients experiences of safe clinical practice during hospitalisation in mental healthcare. The study was guided by the following research question: How do suicidal patients experience safe clinical practice during hospitalisation in mental health wards? Design, setting and participantsA qualitative design with semi-structured individual interviews was applied. Eighteen patients hospitalised with suicidal behaviour in specialised mental healthcar...

BackgroundTrauma is increasingly linked to poor health outcomes. Adverse experiences in mental health inpatient settings can be traumatic and contribute to long-lasting negative effects like post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the full range of relevant experiences is often unaddressed in service design and delivery. AimTo describe the spectrum of negative experiences that people identify while they are inpatients in adult mental health services. MethodA systematic literature review was c...

BackgroundThe Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway, a joint health and criminal justice initiative across England and Wales, aims to support rehabilitation of individuals with a likely diagnosis of personality disorder. Pathways Enhanced Resettlement Services (PERS) is an OPD service currently operating in five open prisons in England, which aims to support people at high risk of being returned to closed conditions or reoffending in the community after release. We aimed to understand serv...

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has potential to disrupt and burden the mental health care system, and to magnify inequalities experienced by mental health service users. MethodsWe investigated staff reports regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in its early weeks on mental health care and mental health service users in the UK using a mixed methods online survey. Recruitment channels included professional associations and networks, charities and social media. Quantitative findings were rep...

BackgroundDespite improving legal protections in recent decades for sexual minorities in the UK, sexual minorities continue to experience significant mental health disparities relative to heterosexuals, and report negative experiences within mental health services that is related to their sexual identity. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of these negative experiences on outcomes within services, or to the experiences of sexual minority staff. To overcome these gaps, the aim ...

Interprofessional collaboration is critical for integrated psychiatric care, yet few studies have profiled clinicians readiness for interprofessional learning and team climate across professions while adjusting for demographic and experiential factors. We conducted a single-site cross-sectional survey of physicians, nursing staff, and allied health professionals in a specialist psychiatric hospital in Japan. Primary outcomes were the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale-Professional ve...

PurposeThis study, co-produced by a team of academics, lived experience researchers and clinicians, explores the views and experiences of people who have been compulsorily detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act (1983) (MHA) in England, to understand how and why, from their perspective, compulsory detentions occur, and what might help prevent them. MethodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 people (55% male, 40% Black/Black British, 30% White British) who had ...

British Columbias Mental Health Act permits the involuntarily detention and treatment of individuals who meet specific criteria. Over the past 15 years, British Columbia has seen an increasing trend in the number of involuntary psychiatric admissions. This qualitative study explores the lived experiences of people receiving and providing involuntary psychiatric treatment within two health organizations in British Columbia, Canada. Five focus groups were conducted with 23 individuals who had prev...

First-hand experience with psychedelics may help clinicians develop skills and knowledge needed to work with the profound changes to conscious awareness occasioned by psychedelics. However, the topic remains contentious and underexplored. In this world-first study, we investigated the utility of psilocybin experiential therapist training in a sample of 14 mental healthcare professionals training to provide psilocybin-assisted therapy. Participants received one 25 mg dose of psilocybin in a clini...

BackgroundDepressive and anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions. In the United Kingdom (UK), NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression (TTad) has provided evidence-based interventions for these conditions since 2008, although treatment outcomes are often suboptimal. Loneliness, consistently linked with poorer mental health outcomes, remains unexplored in this context. We investigated the views of NHS TTad therapists about the nature and origins of loneliness amongs...

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify characteristics that define population need groups with similar mental health service needs within prisons and describe the mix of services required to meet those needs. MethodsMixed methods were used, including three iterative, semi-structured focus groups, followed by an online survey, seeking information on the characteristics that define service needs, how these can identify groups of people who require mental health care in prisons and the services req...