Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Still in the red: update on debt and mental health
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 21p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
The circle of debt and mental health problems is well established. One in 11 people in the UK reports being in debt or arrears, and for people with mental health problems this rises to one in four. In May 2008 Mind published “In the red” based on a survey of almost 2,000 people with experience of both debt and mental health problems. This follow-up survey, “Still in the red”, reveals worrying numbers of people with mental health problems living below the Government-defined poverty line as they struggle to cope with debts. It surveyed almost 900 people living with mental health problems and found that: 45% were living on below £200 a week, rising to 54% among those in problem debt; over 80% felt they were often struggling to manage their finances, rising to 95% among those in problem debt; and almost 75% thought that their mental health problems had made their debt worse. This rose to over four-fifths among those in problem debt. This report concludes that knowledge and practice has clearly improved in a number of areas but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Mind's blog
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Place of publication:
- London
The official blog of the charity Mind. Posts are on a range of topics relating in some way to mental health and aim to stimulate debate about mental health and Mind's work.
Listening to experience: an independent inquiry into acute and crisis mental healthcare
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 52p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Mind commissioned an independent panel to carry out an inquiry into acute and crisis mental health care. It ran a call for evidence, held hearings and visited a range of services. It asked: what do people in mental health crisis need; what is good about existing acute and crisis services – what would you like to protect or have more of; what are the problems in acute and crisis care; if services in your area are being reorganised, what impact is this having on acute and crisis care (if you know); and what changes in acute and crisis care do you want this campaign to achieve? This report found that while excellent crisis care does exist, there are problems with inpatient hospitals and community crisis teams including people struggling to get help, staffing problems, poor quality care environments and not enough treatment provided to help people recover. It also sets out a series of recommendations on how crisis care should be improved to give the best possible treatment to some of the most vulnerable people in NHS care.
Achieving justice for victims and witnesses with mental distress: a mental health toolkit for prosecutors and advocates
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 39p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Previous research has found that, while people with mental health problems are more likely to be the victim of crime, they are less likely to see their case brought to justice. People experiencing mental distress are often regarded as unreliable or non-credible witnesses, meaning their cases may be dropped before they even reach court. For cases that do reach court, witnesses’ medical records or mental health history may be used inappropriately in an attempt to discredit their evidence. This mental health toolkit has been developed for prosecutors and independent legal advocates who prosecute cases involving victims or witnesses with mental distress. The toolkit contains practical advice and illustrative case studies to equip professionals with the skills to handle mental health evidence sensitively and appropriately, provide the right support to ensure victims and witnesses can give their best evidence, and challenge unacceptable use of psychiatric evidence by defence lawyers or other witnesses. The separate chapters of the toolkit cover: the experiences and implications of mental health; making decisions about credibility and reliability; relevance and duty of disclosure; using expert evidence and medical records; supporting people to give their best evidence; and firefighting on the day in court.
Achieving justice for victims and witnesses with mental distress: a quick guide to firefighting on the day in court
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 5p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Research by Mind, a mental health charity, in 2007 found that people with experience of mental distress are disproportionately the victims of crime, but often face barriers to justice. This brief guide recaps the main points in Mind's mental health toolkit Achieving Justice for Victims and Witnesses with Mental Distress. It aims to support prosecutors and advocates in dealing with cases involving witnesses with mental distress where early preparation for a trial has not been possible, such as where advocates meet witnesses for the first time at the door of the court, or where mental distress only comes to light on the day of the trial. It covers indicators of mental distress, communicating with the witness, mental health experiences and implications, making decisions about credibility and reliability, relevance and duty of disclosure, using expert evidence and medical records, and supporting people to give their best evidence.
Personalisation in mental health: creating a vision: views of personalisation, from people who use mental health services
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 19p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This report has been produced as part of the Mind project ‘Putting us first’ which aims to ensure that more people experiencing mental distress have choice and control over their care through a personal budget. Four focus groups for people with experience of mental health services were led by researchers from Bristol University. The venues were in Yorkshire, Cumbria, the South West and London. Twenty-six people attended these groups (14 men and 12 women), including a range of people using local Mind services, Mind members who are not currently using services, and a few people who have experience of direct payments. The focus groups confirmed that personal budgets can change people’s lives for the better. They can help people access ordinary activities and pursue their goals in life. They are also helpful in building confidence and motivation. They provide more flexible support, especially when people are coming back into the community from hospital. Ideas demonstrating the wide range of ways in which personal budgets can be used are discussed. The authors note that knowledge of direct payments is confused and the move towards personal budgets is even more widely misunderstood. They believe clear guidance and information for service users, care coordinators and local managers is urgently needed.
Coronavirus: the consequences for mental health: the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people with mental health problems across England and Wales
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 33
- Place of publication:
- London
This research explores the experiences of people with mental health problems during the pandemic, based on data from two surveys – one with adults (aged 25+) and one with young people (aged 13-24) living in England and Wales. Eighty-five per cent of adults and ninety-one per cent of young people answering our survey have experienced mental distress or accessed mental health services. Most of those without lived experience care for someone with a mental health problem. The report finds that: people who struggled before now struggle more – they report an increase in the severity of challenges they are facing now and concerns about the future, and urgently need tailored support; nearly half of those who took part in our survey thought their mental health would improve once restrictions eased – however, people are most worried about the transition to seeing and being near others; coronavirus has heightened inequality – people receiving benefits have been hit particularly hard and are experiencing increasingly severe and complex problems; young people who struggle with their mental health were more likely to be using negative coping strategies, like self-harm, than adults; people urgently need more support – there is an urgent need for investment in high quality trauma-informed support and much more work needs to be done to ensure support is available for young people, racialised communities, and those in poverty. (Edited publisher abstract)
Get Set to Go programme evaluation summary: 2014 to 2017
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 40
- Place of publication:
- London
An evaluation of the Get Set to Go programme, launched in July 2015 to help people with mental health problems benefit from being physically active. Participants took part in specially designed physical activity projects delivered across England and received group and one-to-one support from peers with an understanding of how mental health can be a barrier to physical activity. A website was also developed to support users to share their stories about the impact getting active has had for them. In total, the programme has supported 3,585 people with mental health problems get more active. The evaluation of the programme, which was carried out by researchers from Loughborough University and the University of Northampton collected information from over 1,000 participants to track their progress. The findings show that physical activity has an important role to play in building resilience, enabling and supporting mental health recovery and tackling stigma and discrimination. The report also provides recommendations for organisations wanting to support people with mental health problems to become more active. (Edited publisher abstract)
We still need to talk: a report on access to talking therapies
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2013
- Pagination:
- 40
- Place of publication:
- London
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 puts mental health on a par with physical health; and the current Mandate to NHS England requires NHS England to achieve parity of esteem between mental and physical health. The We Need to Talk coalition calls for the NHS in England to offer a full range of evidence based psychological therapies to all who need them within 28 days of requesting a referral, even sooner when someone is in need of urgent access when n a mental health crisis. This report outlines why psychological therapies are important and cost-effective. It presents findings of a survey of more than 1600 people with mental health problems who have used psychological therapies, also two focus groups of 10 participants from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. Among findings are that more than half have been waiting 3 months or more for treatment; 58% were not offered choice in the type of therapies they received; and only one in ten felt that their cultural needs were taken into account by the services they were offered. It includes case studies of the role of local voluntary organisations in service provision. (Edited publisher abstract)
Improving mental health support for refugee communities: an advocacy approach
- Author:
- MIND
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 45p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The Refugee and asylum-seeker mental health advocacy project was developed to build a better understanding of the mental health concerns of refugees and asylum-seekers in England and to use these data to improve their ability to find pathways to appropriate mental health support. The core approach was to work with advocates from refugee community organisations to develop a robust form of mental health advocacy. This form of advocacy includes not only focused support for individuals, but also advocacy for the community as a whole. In the community function the aim was to create a dialogue with the community on issues of mental health (including stigma) and to engage with primary care trusts and other provider agencies to develop community-focused services. In this report, Mind worked with Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) to examine the role they play in refugee and asylum seeker mental health and found that PCTs and Local Authorities need to do more to improve their engagement with RCOs and develop more culturally appropriate services.