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The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on Pytlowana and Stenfert Kroese’s article on the experiences of professionals working with parents with learning disabilities by exploring challenges and good practice in this area.

Key areas of practice were identified for further exploration by drawing on research studies with parents with learning disabilities.

While there is growing evidence of good practice around working with parents with learning disabilities, a number of challenges around communication and relationship-based practice remain. The paper recommends further training and education for those working in this complex area of practice.

The paper adds value by bringing together evidence from across a number of studies to highlight good practice.

People with lived experience of mental health problems (MHPs) are often marginalised and have difficulty achieving community inclusion. Citizenship, a relatively novel concept in mental health, provides a means of understanding what is necessary for marginalised individuals and groups to gain a sense of belonging within their communities. By exploring the “what, why, how and who” of citizenship, the purpose of this paper is to provide a rationale for the inclusion of citizenship as part of a person-centred and holistic mental health strategy.

A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, with peer researchers, was adopted to develop a model of citizenship within a Scottish context. The aim of the model is to link the concept of citizenship with specific strategies that systems, agencies and individuals can use within mental health policy and practice to promote greater inclusion and participation. Concept mapping was used as part of a mixed-methods participatory methodology and data were then analysed using multivariate statistical methods of multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis.

It is argued that using a CBPR approach, utilising concept mapping, encourages the development of a model of citizenship that is entirely grounded in the perspectives and lived experiences of people with MHPs. The need for adequate resources, preparatory work, training, research management and reflexive practice are key to the success of a CBPR approach with peer researchers.

Working with peer researchers and key stakeholder groups is central to a CBPR approach and the implementation of a model of citizenship within mental health policy and practice. Developing a model of citizenship derived specifically from the experiences of people with lived experience is likely to promote their inclusion. It provides a means of challenging the structural deficits and inequalities that cause distress and prevent people with lived experience of MHPs of recovering their citizenship.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the persistent challenges in implementing care management within the context of integration. In addition the appropriateness of the care management model will be considered within the current, personalization focused, health and social care policy landscape. The paper draws upon a recent evaluation of a care management and assessment pilot project within a health and social care partnership in Scotland.

A multi‐method approach was adopted, including interviews, vignettes and focus groups, in order to capture data around expectations in relation to the pilot as well as exploring processes and outcomes for those involved.

This paper argues that whilst progress has been made with regard to care management, specific and persistent challenges remain. Professional and organizational boundaries, communication and information sharing remain key challenges. Policy imperatives have shifted the emphasis in community care services towards self‐care, co‐production and personalization contributing to a lack of clarity over the place of care management within the broader integration agenda.

This research was undertaken in one partnership locality in Scotland and as such the findings are related to that particular area. However, the key messages arising from this paper resonate with the broader academic literature on care management and as such are likely to be of interest to a broader audience.

This paper brings together integrated working, care management and the developing policy framework of self‐care to consider the challenges for care management in this context.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of user and carer involvement in a new one‐year postgraduate certificate course for Mental Health Officers (MHOs) in Scotland, covering the first year of its delivery (2009‐2010).

This was explored in two ways: first, by assessing the level of user and carer involvement against a modified framework; and second, by measuring students' confidence in working with people with mental health issues over the duration of the course, and through interviews with students and service users and documentary analysis.

The findings indicate user and carer “influence” and “partnership” over the design and delivery of the learning, teaching and assessment strategy, but no degree of “control” over any aspect of the course. Teaching provided by users and carers was associated with marked improvement in students' confidence in engaging with and upholding the rights of users and carers in the context of the MHO role. Students reported increased awareness of the lived reality of compulsory treatment. Users reported benefits from feeling they had helped facilitate future good practice.

The research design does not allow for causal links to be made between increases in student confidence and user and carer involvement.

The study identified substantial barriers to effective user and carer involvement but confirmed its potential as a positive change agent for post‐qualifying social work education.

This study contributes to the evidence base by demonstrating the value of service user and carer involvement in post qualifying social work education.

Despite widespread professional support for school sex education, there is little evidence about its effects on sexual behaviour. This article describes a project to evaluate rigorously the potential of teacher‐delivered sex education to reduce sexual risk taking. SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationships: Safe, Happy and Responsible) is a 20‐lesson course for 13‐15‐year‐olds designed according to the best educational theories and practices, and incorporating insights from recent social science research on young people’s sexual behaviour. The programme is underpinned by a five‐day teacher training course and is now being evaluated through a randomized controlled trial involving 25 Scottish schools that have been allocated either to deliver SHARE, or to continue with their existing sex education programmes. The impact of SHARE will be assessed in terms of pupils’ greater skills to negotiate sexual encounters and reduced sexual risk taking.

TO many of us it is a matter for regret that we are not able to keep ourselves so closely in touch with library affairs in other parts of the world as we would wish. With American happenings we are, of course, fairly well acquainted, but Colonial effort has not received the attention which is its due. In many places in the Empire methods are, in certain ways, in advance of ours—in more than one country the legislation has been more enlightened than it was in England until quite recently—and everywhere the experience of keen progressive librarians facing their own particular problems must prove of interest and value to those in the home country. Therefore we believe that by devoting this issue to a discussion of some phases of Colonial librarianship we are but answering the large demand for such information.

Previous research has established that there is a relationship between housing and mental health, however, understanding about how and why housing affects mental health is still limited. The purpose of this paper is to address this deficit by focusing on the experiences of residents of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 HMO residents who were asked about their housing career and experience of living in a HMO. Participants were recruited with assistance from community organisations and landlords.

The physical properties and social environment of the property, as well as personal circumstances experienced prior to the move into the property, all influenced how mental health was affected. The authors identify and discuss in detail three key meditating factors: safety, control and identity which may affect how living in the property impacts the mental health of tenants.

Good property management can lessen the potential harmful effects of living in a HMO. However, poorly run properties which house numerous vulnerable people may increase the risk of poor mental health due to attendant high levels of stress and possible risk of abuse.

Based on the reports of HMO residents, the authors outline the key mediating processes through which living in HMOs may affect mental wellbeing, as well as illuminating the potential risks and benefits of HMOs, an overlooked tenure in housing research.

Involvement of parents/carers may increase effectiveness of primary school-based alcohol-misuse prevention projects through strengthening family-based protective factors, but rates of parental engagement are typically low. This paper reports findings from an exploratory trial of a school-based prevention intervention – Kids, Adults Together (KAT), based on the Social Development Model, which aimed to promote pro-social family communication in order to prevent alcohol misuse, and incorporated strategies to engage parents/carers. The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility and value of conducting an effectiveness trial of KAT.

The study was a parallel-group cluster randomised exploratory trial with an embedded process evaluation. The study took place in south Wales, UK, and involved nine primary schools, 367 pupils in Years 5/6 (aged 9-11 years) and their parents/carers and teachers. Questionnaires were completed by pupils at baseline and four month follow-up, and by parents at six month follow-up.

Overall KAT was delivered with good fidelity, but two of five intervention schools withdrew from the study without completing implementation. In total, 50 per cent of eligible parents participated in the intervention, and KAT had good acceptability among pupils, parents and teachers. However, a number of “progression to effectiveness trial” criteria were not met. Intermediate outcomes on family communication (hypothesised to prevent alcohol misuse) showed insufficient evidence of an intervention effect. Difficulties were encountered in identifying age appropriate outcome measures for primary school-age children, particularly in relation to family communication processes. The study was unable to find comprehensive methodological guidance on exploratory trials.

It would not be appropriate to conduct an effectiveness trial as key progression criteria relating to intervention and trial feasibility were not met. There is a need for new measures of family communication which are suitable for primary school-age children, and more guidance on the design and conduct of exploratory/feasibility trials.

KAT achieved high rates of parental involvement, and its theoretical framework and processes could be adapted by other interventions which experience difficulties with recruitment of parents/carers.