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The purpose of this paper is to review the challenges of teaching values and ethics in mental-health, explore the differing perspectives of the key stakeholders and stimulate further questions for debate in this area; leading to a proposal of an alternative approach to educating mental-health professionals on values and ethics.

In current mental-health care settings, very few professionals work with homogeneous populations. It is imperative that mental-health education and training ensures health professionals are competent to practice in diverse settings; where ethics and values are bound to differ. Establishing professional practice not only involves considering concepts such as values and ethics, but also equality, diversity and culture. Incorporating values-based practice and cultural diversity training holds promise to education and training, that is truly reflective of the complexity of clinical decision making in mental-health. Further research is needed as to how these two frameworks can be unified and taught.

This paper presents a thematic synthesis of mental health policies published in England from 1999 to 2020.

This paper aims to present a thematic synthesis of mental health policies published in England from 1999 to 2020. The authors specifically focus on ethnicity-related mental health issues highlighted in policies, policy recommendations and performance measurements of policy implementation.

Findings from this synthesis demonstrate that ethnic mental health inequalities remain comparable over the past two decades. Ongoing issues include a lack of data on the ethnicity of mental health services users. Where data is available, these highlight ethnic inequalities in access to, experiences of and outcomes of mental health services, as well as a lack of cultural capability in health-care professionals. Policy recommendations have also remained the same during this time and include: collecting data on the ethnicity of service users, raising awareness of the cultural needs of Black and Minority ethnic populations amongst health-care professionals, recruiting BME staff into mental health care services and improving community engagement. The synthesis identified poor indicators of performance measurement on policy implementation and weak monitoring regimes.

The synthesis identified poor indicators of performance measurement on policy implementation and weak monitoring regimes.

This paper presents a thematic synthesis of mental health policies published in England from 1999 to 2020.

This article reports on a literature review of interventions specifically identified as emanating from a mental health promotion (as opposed to prevention) paradigm. A number of recurring debates in the field were identified, including language and terminology, defining ‘mental health’, models of mental health promotion, the use of overgeneralised concepts, values, beliefs and assumptions implicit in mental health promotion interventions, and diversity in what gets called mental health promotion and who does mental health promotion. The paper concludes by highlighting key issues critical to the future development of mental health promotion: the implications of mental health promotion being at an embryonic stage of development, the need for greater reflexivity, the need for integration, and issues concerning professional identity and practice in the mental health promotion field.

Spirituality has started to attract increased interest in the mental health arena over recent years. Indeed, psychiatrists are becoming more interested in spirituality because of the benefits it can bring to the mental health of service users. However, the issue of spirituality and the mental health needs of people who have learning disabilities has not been extensively researched or reported. This article explores the spiritual dimension in mental health care and its relevance to people with learning disabilities. A discussion of the development of a working group to scope the issues in one learning disability service is explored, with practical commentary on the efforts made to gather more information from service providers. The findings from a brief survey are briefly discussed, as well as the developments which have ensued to date. The authors conclude that, although spirituality can mean different things to different people, responding to the diverse spiritual needs of service users must take a person‐centred and flexible approach.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the engagement of Pacific peoples in mental health services in Aotearoa New Zealand and Pacific strategies for suicide prevention.

This qualitative study involved 22 interviews with Samoans who had made a suicide attempt and/or had suicide ideation, were engaged in a mental health service.

Narratives of mental health services and suicide prevention focused on issues of cultural competency, the importance of family involvement, dichotomous views of western and traditional beliefs around mental illness and the unsuccessful engagement of Pacific youth.

This research argues that cultural considerations for Pacific communities are of paramount importance if mental health service engagement and developments towards Pacific suicide prevention strategies are to be effective.

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of adolescents’ perceptions of food insecurity and diet quality, and the impact that these factors have on mental health.

This study used a community-based research approach. It gathered qualitative data from 11 in-depth interviews conducted with adolescents aged 13-19. Participants were recruited through various programmes they attended at a community organization in Toronto.

Overall, results indicate that respondents clearly identified a linkage between food insecurity and mental health. They also identified several effects of poor diet quality on mental health. Respondents understood food insecurity and poor diet quality to exist on a continuum. However, they also identified other reasons for making poor dietary choices such as peer pressure. Mental health effects of food insecurity and poor diet quality included sadness, stress, worry, anger, shame, impaired concentration, and fatigue.

This research will help to inform future research design in the field of social determinants of mental health. As well, the findings will help guide the development of interventions targeted towards this vulnerable age group.

This is the first qualitative study to explore food insecurity and poor diet quality, as existing on a continuum, from the perspective of adolescents. The authors are also the first to explore the impact of these factors on the mental health of adolescents, based on their own understanding. What is more, the authors focused on a culturally diverse population living in an underprivileged neighbourhood in Toronto. The authors chose this population because they are at higher risk of both food insecurity and poor diet quality.

Collaboration among professionals is essential for effective patient care, but gender stereotyping and discrimination practices in the health care environment may hinder effective teamwork. This study aims to investigate professional attitudes toward teamwork in a psychiatric setting with a particular emphasis on gender. The paper examines gender differences in attitudes among all professionals on a team and identifies gender differences among professionals within the same speciality, with particular attention to doctors and nurses.

Data were collected in the mental health hospital of Attiki, Greece. In total, 151 doctors, nurses and allied health professionals completed a self‐reported questionnaire.

The paper finds that females appear to be more receptive to teamwork: all doctors have similarities in their attitudes toward teamwork, but females reported stronger agreement on the values and culture of the team. Several differences appeared in male and female nurses' attitudes toward teamwork. The stereotype of nursing as a female occupation was found to affect male nurses' job satisfaction and decision‐making process, creating a barrier to effective collaboration.

The sample had few subgroups and self‐reporting questionnaires may not reflect participants' attitudes in real situations.

The study describes important aspects of gender stereotyping in the health care environment and adds to the literature on professional teamwork and communication.

Research evidence concerning the mental health of the Chinese population in Britain is much more limited than for other ethnic groups. The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of the mental health needs of Chinese children living in the North East of England and their parents’ experiences and knowledge about the mental health services.

The authors invited parents from two Chinese language schools to complete the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ) and a seven-question self-report questionnaire.

In total, 76 out of 158 questionnaires returned. The mean scores of SDQ were lower than those reported in China, Hong Kong and UK. Only 43 per cent of parents knew how to seek psychiatric help if they suspect their children have mental health problems. Also, almost one-third of the parents believed that language barrier would be an obstacle for them to seek help.

This is the first study in UK to look at the mental health of Chinese children and young people from their parents’ perspectives. This is also the first study in UK to compare their mental health wellbeing (via using SDQ) with their counterparts in other countries. This study has brought some clarity and new information to light about this ethnic minority group.

There is a gap in the understanding of relationships between socioeconomic status (SES), urban-rural differences, ethnicity and eating disorder symptomatology. This gap has implications for access to treatment and the effectiveness of treatment. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Data are presented from a major Canadian survey, analyzing the impact of body mass index (BMI), urban-non-urban residency, income, and ethnicity on eating disorder symptomatology.

One of the strongest findings is that high income non-White women expressed less eating disorder symptomatology than lower income non-White women.

Future research needs to consider how factors such as urban residency, exposure to Western “thinness” ideals, and income differentials impact non-White women.

Effective treatment of ethnic minority women requires an appreciation of complicated effects of “culture clash,” income and BMI on eating disorder symptomatology.

This study makes a unique contribution to the literature by examining relationships between SES (income) and eating disorder symptomatology in White and non-White Canadian women. The review of the scientific literature on ethnic differences in eating disorder symptomatology revealed a disparity gap in treatment. This disparity may be a by-product of bias and lack of understanding of gender or ethnic/cultural differences by practitioners.