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The UK Government has been planning changes to mental health legislation for at least eight years. On 23 March 2006, the Department of Health announced that many of these plans would proceed ‐ although through amendments to the 1983 Mental Health Act rather than a substantive Bill. These proposed reforms are significant but controversial. This paper sets out some of the reasons for welcoming the proposed changes. It is argued that the proposals to replace the responsible medical officer with a clinical supervisor are in keeping with best quality mental health care, and allow for proper multidisciplinary practice. Such an approach explicitly permits proper use of the skills and competencies of the workforce ‐ including psychologists. A second controversial aspect of the proposed reforms ‐ supervised community treatment orders, permitting compulsory care outside of hospitals ‐ represent not a violation of human rights, but a specific defence of ‘Article 8’ rights to protection of family and personal life. Finally, it is argued that the proposed amendments are important because mental health legislation dominates mental health care and the present 1983 Mental Health Act inappropriately consolidates the status of the medical model and the role of the responsible medical officer (and hence psychiatry). It is argued that the proposed changes are imperfect; in particular they lack inclusion of an ‘impaired judgement’ criterion, but it is suggested that necessary role and service redesign needs such amendments to allow the new ways of working programme to ‘bite’.

The New Ways of Working (NWW) initiative was launched in 2004 to build a more flexible and skilled mental health workforce. This paper explores the journey through inpatient care under a new acute care team (ACT) model, piloted in Mersey Care NHS Trust as part of the redesign of services under the NWW. Fourteen service users were interviewed face‐to‐face, using an interview schedule of open‐ended questions administered by service user and carer interviewers. Service user perspectives on the admission process and inpatient care were reported as predominantly negative. Service user perspectives on the discharge process and aftercare were reported as predominantly positive. The need for clear and unambiguous care pathways, adequate information, good communication, and to have continuity of care and positive relationships with staff emerged as key themes.

Although there is a growing evidence base for the value of psychosocial and arts-based strategies for enhancing well-being amongst adults living with dementia, relatively little attention has been paid to literature-based interventions. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of shared reading (SR) groups, a programme developed and implemented by The Reader Organisation, on quality of life for care home residents with mild/moderate dementia.

In total, 31 individuals were recruited from four care homes, which were randomly assigned to either reading-waiting groups (three months reading, followed by three months no reading) or waiting-reading groups (three months no reading, followed by three months reading). Quality of life was assessed by the DEMQOL-Proxy and psychopathological symptoms were assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire.

Compared to the waiting condition, the positive effects of SR on quality of life were demonstrated at the commencement of the reading groups and were maintained once the activity ended. Low levels of baseline symptoms prevented analyses on whether the intervention impacted on the clinical signs of dementia.

Limitations included the small sample and lack of control for confounding variables.

The therapeutic potential of reading groups is discussed as a positive and practical intervention for older adults living with dementia.

This study sets out to explore the application of psychological research methods (as yet not applied) in the fashion arena. The aim of this project is to quantify, formalise and explore the causal relationships between clothing style, preference, personality factors, emotions and mood with a view to a better understanding of the psychological profile of the fashion consumer.

Using a uniformly composed sample of females, explorative quantitative research was carried out. Two sets of questionnaires were administered to the sample to examine emotion, mood and personality before trying on a set of eight garments categorized according to style; and again afterwards to examine emotion and mood while wearing each outfit. Photographs of participants were taken wearing each of the outfits. Participants then ranked the eight outfits in order of preference. SPSS analysis identified relationships and preference indicators.

The results indicated strong relationships between mood and significant relationships between three out of five personality factors and clothing style preference; mood was a significant predictor of preference, whilst personality was moderate.

The research methodology necessitated lengthy time commitments from the participants and therefore limited the sample size, making generalization difficult. Based on the findings, the research requires further exploration of methods for practical application with a larger sample size.

Personality, emotion and mood were shown to be managed and reflected through clothing with implications for assistance in consumer clothing decisions, service training, and strategies for personal shoppers, market segmentation and design.

The methodology derived from a combination of research methods coupled with actual wearing experience, previously not studied together. This is original and demonstrates how important this combination is in order to fully appreciate the psychological profile of the fashion consumer.

Non-participation in outpatient dual diagnosis services presents a challenge for providers assisting clients in their recovery. To better understand factors that facilitate participation, the purpose of this paper is to examine positive recovery states – hope, meaning, and empowerment – as they relate to motivational interviewing (MI) and service use.

Six dually diagnosed adults completed four baseline assessments, four MI sessions, a post-MI tape-assisted recall interview, and one-month follow-up measures. Simulation modeling analysis of phone survey responses, comparisons of baseline and intervention phase data, and grounded theory analysis of interviews were conducted to determine MI's relationship to the dependent variables.

MI was associated with modest improvement in levels of participation, hope, empowerment, and with greater change in life purpose. Key recovery themes were: positive sense of self, increased self-efficacy, and improved relationships. Feelings of safety and trust were tied to greater self-disclosure while more active emotions were more closely linked to the discussion of recovery progress.

The paper's finding are limited by small sample size and phone survey response sets.

To better help dually diagnosed clients sustain treatment involvement, MI practitioners should pay special attention to recovery accomplishments, values, abilities, and self-esteem, while linking these attributes to service participation where appropriate and creating a safe, valuing atmosphere conducive to self-disclosure.

This is the first paper to measure key recovery constructs within MI process, and to explore the role of positive emotions related to MI, recovery, and service participation.

Psychological developmental informed theories imply that addiction is not exclusively due to the addictive properties of the substance but that early psycho-social experiences are influential on later life. The purpose of this paper is to understand substance dependency, relapse and recovery amongst community-based substance using offenders in relation to their childhoods, relationships and significant life events, from their perspective. A key aim was to help better inform policy and practice.

A qualitative study (interpretative phenomenological analysis) was used to understand the impact of childhood, relationships and significant life events amongst (N = 17) adult ex/offenders with substance use dependency problems, (who were part of the UK Government rehabilitation programme), to understand their substance use and recovery from their own perspectives.

Four main superordinate themes were developed illustrating participants extremely adverse childhoods. Substance use was a means to cope with current and past trauma and crises and to help manage the emotions and mental health which could accompany these difficulties. Managing recovery was about learning to manage life itself, including emotions, mental health problems, trauma/responses, relationships and everyday life.

This group is under researched where qualitative methods have been used. The study focussed on early-psycho-social experiences and relationships and the influence of these throughout the life cycle, in relation to their substance use. The study was informed by theories often used in therapeutic settings but rarely in research, (Orford, 2008; Khantzian, 2012; Flores, 2012, Van Der Kolk, 2014).

Research indicates that the diagnostic label of Bipolar Disorder is being both over and under-used in mental health services. Disagreement between clinicians in how the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder is perceived and how the label is used can make it difficult to establish and uphold consistent care. This may lead to the experience of negative emotions for service users and poor engagement with intervention. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore whether clinicians do hold different perceptions of the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, with the view of providing insight into how this may impact service provision.

Q-methodology was used to investigate the subjective viewpoints of 19 clinicians from mental health community teams supporting individuals with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. The completed Q-sorts were subject to analysis using Q-methodology analysis software.

Three main factors representing the viewpoints of participants were identified: seeing the person and their experience, promoting quality through standardised processes and understanding the function of diagnostic labels. All three factors agreed that more than one assessment appointment should be required before a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder was given and that the focus should be on the difficulties experienced rather than the diagnostic label.

These three viewpoints provide different perspectives of the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, which are likely to impact on service provision. Services may benefit from a better integration of the viewpoints, noting the important functions of each viewpoint and being guided by individuals’ needs.