Black History Month

New book additions

To celebrate Black History Month, taking place through October, we have added new books to our collection. A variety of fiction, autobiographies, poetry and historical stories for all tastes of genres. Take a look at our online catalogue (what’s new section) or view our collection at the Gosall Library- The Lantern Centre to issue your books today. Remember, we can send books out to you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the library team by emailing academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk.

Our new Black History Month collection

Covid 19 mental health research

Funding boost

Six new research projects have been awarded a share of £2m funding by NIHR and UKRI to investigate and reduce the impacts of Covid-19 and the pandemic on mental health.

The projects will focus on reducing the negative effects of the pandemic on the mental health of three at-risk groups: healthcare workers, children and younger people, and those with serious mental health problems.

To find out more click here.

NHS England

Delivering a ‘net zero’ NHS

This report provides an account of the NHS’s modelling and analytics underpinning the latest NHS carbon footprint, trajectories to net zero, and the interventions required to achieve that ambition. It lays out the direction, scale and pace of change. It describes an iterative and adaptive approach, which will periodically review progress and aims to increase the level of ambition over time. A greener NHS is on the way.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol scope for the NHS (NHS England)

To find out more click here.

‘Long Covid’ Sufferers

NHS to offer help at specialist centres

There is increasing evidence to suggest that 10% of Covid sufferers are still experiencing symptoms more than 3 weeks after infection and an estimated 60,0000 people suffering after 3 months of infection.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens announced that £10 million is to be invested this year in addition to local funding to help kick start and designate long covid clinics in every area across England, to complement existing primary, community and rehabilitation care.

He explained;

“While this is still a relatively new virus, we are learning more about covid with every passing week. It is now clear that long covid can have a major impact on the lives of a significant minority of patients weeks or months after they have contracted the virus. So just as the NHS quickly put in place specialist hospital care for acutely ill Covid patients at the start of the pandemic, now we must respond sensitively and effectively to these new patient needs.”

To read more about this, including the 5 part package of measure to boost NHS support for long covid patients click here.

Covid 19

Leaders warn of “full blown second surge” as hospital admissions rise

Healthcare leaders have warned that the NHS will face a full blown second suge of Covid without immediate action.

Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England, said, “We’re seeing a definite and sustained increase in cases and admissions to hospital. The trend is clear, and it is very concerning. Numbers of deaths from covid-19 are also rising so we must continue to act to reduce transmission of this virus.”

There are rising concerns that we could soon be back to where we were in April if we do not take action now. To find out more click here.

Mental Health

Current Awareness Updates

Inquiry into the support available for young people who self-harm  This inquiry, led by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention and supported by Samaritans, explored the experiences of young people who self-harm in accessing support services. In particular, it examined: support services currently available in both clinical and the wider community settings (including schools); plans for improving and expanding this support; and the changes needed to ensure that support is made more effective and widely available. It concludes that young people who self-harm are often made to wait until they reach crisis point before receiving support.

How are UK adults managing stress during the pandemic? A survey from the Mental Health Foundation looks at how people are managing their stress during the pandemic. The most popular coping mechanisms were walking, visiting green spaces and contacting family and friends.

Laying foundations: attitudes and access to mental health nurse education Mental health nurses account for over a third of the mental health workforce in England and work across a wide range of health and care settings. However, this report finds that the pipeline of people choosing to study and qualify to become a mental health nurse is unable to meet sharply rising demand for this service. It looks at ways more people might be attracted to apply to study mental health nursing – and reasons why numbers are currently limited.

Digital interventions for suicidal thinking: a tale of two reviews.
In his debut blog, Wouter van Ballegooijen summarises two recent systematic reviews on digital interventions for suicidal thinking, which include more or less the same research, but come to quite different conclusions.

Reducing demand for inpatient mental health beds evidence review
This evidence review explores the evidence for initiatives and interventions which aim to avoid mental health inpatient admissions and re-admissions and reduce inpatient length of stay.

Should European cities be going green for our mental health?
Eleana Frisira summarises a recent scoping review on the impact that green spaces can have on the mental health of people living in urban settings.

To sign up to KnowledgeShare and receive personalised research for your field of work, complete the form and send it to academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

KnowledgeShare-sign-up-formDownload

Mental Health Day

10th October 2020

This year’s theme is; ‘Mental health for all’

Mental health can affect anybody at any time. Mental health day is about showing support for better mental health. Why not take some time today for your own wellbeing.

Mind offers some top tips to improve your mental health and wellbeing:

  • only try what feels comfortable
  • give yourself time to figure out what works for you, going at your own pace
  • take small steps. Pick one or two things that feel achievable at first, before moving on to try other ideas.

So why not get involved:

  • have a virtual tea and chat with a friend
  • talk about your and your family’s wellbeing and create plans to involve everyone’s ideas
  • get moving for mental health
  • celebrate your differences

To read some personal stories about World Mental Health Day click here.

For more ideas or to find out more visit the Mental Health Foundation.