Source: Centre for Mental Health
Marsha McAdam, mental health ambassador, speaks to Thea Joshi about being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She talks about using her experience of mental health difficulties to create meaningful changes in services, and how those of us living with mental health difficulties can ‘bring our whole selves’ to work.
Read more and listen to the podcast here.
These awards identify and disseminate positive practice in mental health services by working together across organisations and sectors, to facilitate shared learning, and to raise the profile of mental health with politicians and policy makers. Nominations are now open for 2021.
Visit: http://positivepracticemh.com/national-mental-health-awards-2020 to nominate a team, service or project.
Care homes: visiting restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic House of Commons; 2021
(This report calls on the government to make the existing requirements for individualised assessment for visits mandatory by laying its draft regulations, as soon as possible. Government guidance now makes clear that care home providers should not impose blanket bans on visiting but should instead conduct individualised risk assessments for each resident. However, without statutory force, there is no legal recourse for residents to require their providers to implement the guidance.)
Racism and discrimination: the experience of primary care professionals in the Humberside region Humberside LMC: April 2021
(This report highlights discrimination faced by staff and patients from ethnic minority backgrounds in general practice. It finds that respondents reported experiences of discrimination in a wide range of areas such as training, working patterns and complaints, and it calls for a zero-tolerance approach to tackle racism in all its forms. )
Pandemic patient experience II: from lockdown to vaccine roll-out The Patient’s Association; April 2021
(In 2020, patients told the Patients Association about their experiences of living with health and care needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their testimony painted a bleak picture in many ways. This follow-up survey (drawing on 453 responses, submitted over February, March and early April 2021) finds that many aspects of their experiences are not much better, and some are worse. Accessing general practice services remains difficult for many, and patients overall do not regard remote consultations as an adequate replacement for in-person appointments.)
Outpatient appointments intended but not booked after inpatient stays Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB); April 2021
(This investigation explores the patient safety risk of outpatient appointments that are intended but not booked following an inpatient stay. It also considers opportunities for building resilience into the process to ensure timely appointments. It concludes with two safety recommendations that are aimed at reducing the chance that patients will be lost after an inpatient stay and supporting the staff within trusts who are responsible for arranging appointments and tracking patients.)
Unemployment and mental health The Health Foundation; April 2021
(This analysis estimates that an increase of 900,000 people in unemployment expected by the end of the year, compared with before the pandemic, will lead to 200,000 more people with poor mental health in the UK. It acknowledges that while government action to reduce a rise in unemployment by extending the furlough scheme to September will support mental health, it suggests that the benefits system and employment support programmes currently fail to properly account for the mental health needs of those who are unemployed. It concludes that there is now an opportunity to ensure that efforts to tackle unemployment in the pandemic recovery are designed to better support mental health.)
Skin cancer awareness month toolkit Skin Cancer Foundation; May 2021
(A social media toolkit giving you downloadable skin cancer images and resources to help you share the facts during Skin Cancer Awareness Month)
Source: The King’s Fund Health Management and Policy Alert
This report provides an overview of the public’s mental health and how it is affecting people’s lives, although it does not aspire to be a comprehensive record because of the scale of research now being undertaken. It also provides new, previously unpublished, analysis by NatCen from the Understanding Society longitudinal study showing the impacts of the Covid–19 pandemic on the public’s financial and mental health.
For more information click here.
A resource compiling a list of mental health podcasts to support staff and patients. With thanks to Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS for collating this list. The list covers a range of topics focusing on the most recent evidence, current issues, interviews from experts and patient experience to professional development support.
The latest bulletin is available to view here.
If you need any support accessing any of the articles, please send your requests to academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk
Increased inequalities and barriers to healthy eating and exercise during lockdown for those with obesity.
Carried out by Frankie Marcelline from Brighton and Sussex on 8/3/2021
https://www.knowledgeshare.nhs.uk/index.php?PageID=literature_search_request_download&RequestID=27968
(This evidence search report includes studies and reports on barriers to healthy eating and exercise that people have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in the UK. People with obesity in particular may have poorer mental health and are at higher risk of additional challenges during this lockdown as they are likely to be isolating and find it harder to exercise or eat well. Also includes results focused on what support is required for people with obesity in the post-Covid recovery.)
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy – debunking the myths using a community engagement approach underpinned by NICE guidance.
NICE Shared Learning Database; 2021.
(Shared learning case study. This example describes how GPs from Black Women in Health (BWIH) reduced COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy amongst the BAME population by debunking the myths about COVID-19 vaccines by organising webinars, virtual group talks, podcasts, videos in other languages and dialects. The approach to community engagement was informed by recommendations from NICE’s guidance for Community engagement: improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities.)
The NHS’s role in tackling poverty: awareness, action and advocacy The King’s Fund
(One of the main drivers behind the creation of the NHS was to protect the poorest in society from being bankrupted by the need to pay for care. But the NHS can do more to mitigate, prevent and reduce poverty. This report sets out what the NHS, as the largest economic institution in the country, needs to maximise its contribution to tackling poverty, within its resources and with its partners.)
COVID-19: guidance on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing – GOV.UK
(Advice for parents and carers on looking after the mental health and wellbeing of children or young people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.)
Delivering preconception care to women of childbearing age with serious mental illness
This guide is for health care professionals involved in the care of women with serious mental illness (SMI) in primary and secondary care. It aims to provide the latest evidence to support health care professionals having informed conversations on the considerations regarding mental and physical health for women of childbearing age with SMI, whether or not they are planning a pregnancy.
For more information click here.
Maternal mental health during a pandemic: a rapid evidence review of Covid-19’s impact
This rapid evidence review (produced together with the Maternal Mental Health Alliance) looks at the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of new and expectant mothers and the support that’s been available during the pandemic.
For more information click here.
Perinatal mental health bulletin, produced by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, provides a list of current journal articles. View or download below. Please get in touch if you would like access to any of this research by emailing academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk with the article you would like to read.
Thank-you to everyone who attended our lunch and learn session last week. Our guest speaker Sam Tyrer discussed his own experiences of living with mental health issues and how this influenced his reasons for working for the NHS. He also shared about how he wants his work to influence the outcomes of children and young people and is a fantastic advocate for raising awareness of mental health, the stigma that comes with this and raised some issues that young people are currently facing. Sam shared some really useful guidance for working with young people – or your own children and discussed some useful strategies to apply to cope with your own anxiety or mental health worries.
If you missed the session, you can catch up here: https://nwsis-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/katie_roper_lscft_nhs_uk/EepmXm6Rm1FFv4-D18jcKq8Bb_h1962q4ll1CENkJoUoSg (please use your LSCFT email to access.)
We would really appreciate any feedback on these sessions. If you have a few spare minutes we kindly ask you to complete our survey- which should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete:https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WLHBMSG
You can also follow Sam’s work via his mental health hour: Mental Health Family Hour – YouTube
Our next session will be held in April and will focus on health literacy awareness. We hope to see as many of you there. Please contact katie.roper@lscft.nhs.uk if you would like an invite to this session.
