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A holistic approach to black and minority ethnic mental health: the letting through light training pack
- Author:
- FERNS Peter
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 91p.
- Place of publication:
- Brighton
Based on the Letting Through Light training pack, this innovative resource has been developed to enable practitioners to provide better and more appropriate services to Black and minority ethnic (BME) people experiencing mental distress. A holistic approach to Black and minority ethnic mental health includes trainers’ instructions, a series of exercises and photocopiable masters of readings, handouts and OHPs, for five workshops.
Stress and pressures in mental health social work: the worker speaks
- Authors:
- HUXLEY Peter, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 35(7), October 2005, pp.1063-1079.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Two-thirds of councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs) took part in a UK survey of mental health social workers. A one in five sample of front line workers was drawn, and 237 respondents completed a questionnaire and diary about their work context and content, and their attitudes to their work, their employer, mental health policy and the place of mental health social work in modernized mental health services. The questions, that called for free-text responses, were completed in detail and at length. This paper reports the results of a qualitative analysis of these responses using NVIVO software. The paper is structured around the themes emerging from the analysis: pressure of work; staffing matters; job satisfaction and well-being; recruitment and retention issues; and being valued. The conclusions are that the social workers value face to face contact with service users, and that their commitment to service users is an important factor in staff retention. The most unsatisfactory aspects of their work context arise from not feeling valued by their employers and wider society, and some of the most satisfactory from the support of colleagues and supervisors. Without attention to these factors, recruitment and retention problems will remain an unresolved issue.
To walk on eggshells is to care for a mental illness
- Author:
- JOHNSTON Jean
- Publisher:
- The Cairn
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 75p.
- Place of publication:
- Helensburgh
The book is an account of the agony, shock, love and stamina of a mother facing her child's mental illness. With clarity and humour she chronicles her daughter's childhood, teenage years and the eventual descent into severe mental distress. She offers her thoughts, advice and practical suggestions on self-management and recovery from the perspective of the carer. The author says: "As a former carer I know we were very fortunate in our experiences of mental health services. Anecdotal evidence would indicate that others are not so lucky. Unless appropriate recognition and support is given by professionals to this overlooked role, we are not only in danger of exacerbating patients' symptoms but also endangering the mental health and well-being of the carers themselves".
Wellness recovery action plan: a system for monitoring, reducing and eliminating uncomfortable or dangerous physical symptoms and distressing emotional feelings or experiences
- Author:
- COPELAND Mary Ellen
- Publisher:
- Sefton Recovery Group
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 126p.
- Place of publication:
- Liverpool
This book is a popular personal guide to developing a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). Adults and older teens who are working on recovery benefit from having their own copy. Agencies can purchase them for distribution to people in WRAP groups who are working with a care provider on developing a WRAP or who are working on their own to develop a WRAP. This book has broad applicability and is used world-wide as a basis for recovery. Learning self help skills for dealing with physical and emotional discomfort can be simple ... but it's a much greater challenge using self help methods during the most difficult times - when they can help the most - and incorporating them into daily life. This book presents a system developed and used successfully by people with all kinds of physical, emotional and life issues. It has helped them use self help skills more easily to monitor how they are feeling, decrease the severity and frequency of difficult feelings, and improve the quality of their lives.
Stress and mental health in the workplace: Mind week report, May 2005
- Author:
- ROBERTSON Suzannah
- Publisher:
- MIND
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 42p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Workplace stress can create mental health problems, or act as a trigger for existing mental health problems which may otherwise have been successfully managed. There are a number of key actions that employers can take in order to encourage a mentally healthy workplace. They should: demonstrate and encourage awareness, understanding and openness in relation to the issues of stress and mental health in the workplace; adopt and adhere to formal policies on stress and mental health in the workplace and commit to addressing both issues; and allow employees to make reasonable adjustments, for example, flexi-time, working from home or quiet rooms to help them to manage mental health problems and work related stress issues. For employees with mental health problems, searching for and applying for jobs can be stressful experiences in themselves, so it is important to recognise and prepare for this. Relationships with colleagues are also a crucial factor in the experience of stress at work for employees with mental health problems. Therefore, it is important to develop supportive relationships and friendships at work.
Acute military psychiatric casualties from the war in Iraq
- Authors:
- TURNER Mark A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(6), June 2005, pp.476-479.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The view that most military personnel evacuated from war zones are suffering from combat stress reactions, or are otherwise traumatised by the horrors of war, has an impact on all aspects of military psychiatry. The aim was to delineate the reasons for psychiatric aeromedical evacuation from Iraq from the start of build-up of UK forces in January 2003 until the end of October that year, 6 months after the end of formal hostilities. A retrospective study was conducted of field and in-patient psychiatric assessments of 116 military personnel evacuated to the UK military psychiatric in-patient facility in Catterick Garrison. Evacuees were mainly non-combatants (69%). A significant proportion were in reserve service (21%) and had a history of contact with mental health services (37%). Only 3% had a combat stress reaction. In over 85% of cases evacuation was for low mood attributed to separation from friends or family, or difficulties adjusting to the environment. These findings have implications especially for screening for suitability for deployment, and for understanding any longer-term mental health problems arising in veterans from Iraq.
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after non-traumatic events: evidence from an open population study
- Authors:
- MOL Saskia S. L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(6), June 2005, pp.494-499.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the only psychiatric condition that requires a specific event to have occurred for its diagnosis. The aim was to gather evidence from the adult general population on whether life events (e.g. divorce, unemployment) generate as many symptoms of post-traumatic stress as traumatic events (e.g. accidents, abuse). Data on demographic characteristics and history of stressful events were collected through a written questionnaire sent to a random sample of 2997 adults. Respondents also filled out a PTSD symptom checklist, keeping in mind their worst event. Mean PTSD scores were compared, controlling for differences between the two groups. Differences in item scores and in the distribution of the total PTSD scores were analysed. Of the 1498 respondents, 832 were eligible for inclusion in our analysis. For events from the past 30 years the PTSD scores were higher after life events than after traumatic events; for earlier events the scores were the same for both types of events. These findings could not be explained by differences in demographics, history of stressful events, individual item scores, or the distribution of the total PTSD scores. Life events can generate at least as many PTSD symptoms as traumatic events. Our findings call for further studies on the specificity of traumatic events as a cause of PTSD.
Going to war does not have to hurt: preliminary findings from the British deployment to Iraq
- Authors:
- HUGHES Jamie Hacker, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(6), June 2005, pp.536-537.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The authors carried out a brief longitudinal mental health screen of 254 members of the UK's Air Assault Brigade before and after deployment to Iraq last year. Analysis of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scores before and after deployment revealed a lower score after deployment (mean difference=0.93, 95% CI 0.35-1.52). This indicated a highly significant relative improvement in mental health (P < 0.005). Moreover, only 9 of a larger sample of 421 (2%) exceeded cut-off criteria on the Trauma Screening Questionnaire. These findings suggest that war is not necessarily bad for psychological health.
Health-related quality of life and attitudes to long-term care among carers of older people using social services
- Author:
- ILIFFE Steve
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 23(3), 2005, pp.165-173.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
Using three standardised measures to screen for activity limitation (ADLs), depression (GHQ-28) and health related quality of life (HRQoL) (SF36), a study of carers and people aged 75 and over referred consecutively to social services departments in adjacent inner city areas showed a high prevalence of limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs), that a substantial proportion (42 per cent) had GHQ-28 scores high enough to suggest depression and their scores on the SF-36 showed that many carers were low in vitality and tired. Co-resident carers had poorer psychological health and more difficulties with social functioning than non-resident carers, and were older, but were not significantly different in self-reported physical health. Whether carers wanted the cared-for person to remain at home for as long as possible depended on their relationship (spouse or not) and whether the older person was depressed. The carers' own psychological health was not related to their attitude to institutional care. The study suggests that targeting social care resources on carers showing psychological distress may not reduce downstream expenditure on long-term care.
Assessment of the relationship between parenting stress and a child's ability to functionally communicate
- Authors:
- ELLO Linda M., DONOVAN Sandra J.
- Journal article citation:
- Research on Social Work Practice, 15(6), November 2005, pp.531-544.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Using a two-group, cross-sectional survey design, this American study explored the relationship between parenting stress and a child’s ability to functionally communicate within families who participated in an early intervention developmental disability programme with respect to total stress as well as domain-specific stress. In addition, this study described how this relationship differed with respect to key demographic characteristics. Sixty four parents were included in the study. The findings suggest that a child’s ability to functionally communicate does negatively relate to the level of parenting stress in the parent-child subsystem. Implications for both social work practice and policy are presented.