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The purpose of this study was to address calls for and test efficacy of an app based, short term resilience intervention for individual benefit.

Three independent samples of participants were assessed to determine the efficacy of an employee focused resilience intervention. Study 1 includes a cross sectional validation of the approach. Study 2 examines validity of the intervention using pre- and post-tests. Study 3 utilizes random assignment of groups (treatment and control) to determine invention results on resilience and individual psychological well-being.

Evidence suggests employees in the experimental group reported higher levels of resilience and psychological well-being as a result of the intervention. Further, the authors found no significant changes in resilience or psychological well-being amongst employees in the control group suggesting the intervention induced the effect.

Previous research attempting resilience interventions have been long, cumbersome and expensive for organizations. Basing the authors’ method on previous research regarded as micro interventions, this intervention is individualized, flexible and very cost effective for organizational application.

This paper aims to explore the use of low intensity in-cell workbooks within a psychological therapies service for male prisoners, an intervention adapted for use during the COVID-19 pandemic. It seeks to explore the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing psychological distress, explore individuals’ progression through the service following engagement with the workbooks and, finally, to understand individual’s experiences of the intervention through evaluating feedback provided.

CORE-10 scores from 66 male prisoners at a Category C prison were evaluated pre and post completion of an adapted in-cell workbook intervention, to explore the potential effectiveness of the intervention in reducing psychological distress. Qualitative feedback given by participants was also explored to understand individual’s experiences of engaging with the intervention.

Evaluation of 66 male prisoners revealed significant reductions in psychological distress on the CORE-10. Findings demonstrated that over half of men included in the evaluation were “stepped-up” for further interventions as per the stepped-care treatment model. Feedback forms highlighted the value of the therapeutic relationship and a “something versus nothing” approach.

The paper considers several limitations to the research approach, of which future studies should seek to explore when carrying out similar research.

The paper includes implications for the use of low intensity self-help interventions in prison psychological services, during a time when the provision of face-to-face interventions was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper explores the use of self-help materials in psychological treatment settings, of which there is very little research on in prisons. In addition, the paper contributes to the body of research on psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applied psychology interventions have an important role to play in mental and physical health services with offenders and in reducing re‐offending. There has been a significant growth of the evidence on the effectiveness of specific interventions. Barriers still exist to delivering effective psychological interventions.Psychological interventions also have a key role in comprehensive, accessible services with offenders in relation to long‐term disorders as well as co‐morbid problems. Until 2000 offenders were largely excluded from mainstream health and social care provision. Very significant progress has been made in this respect. The provision of mainstream psychological therapies had until recently lagged behind other areas of health care. As a result, Applied Psychology Group (APG) has developed a new strategy, with a shift of emphasis towards strategic development of psychological interventions ‐ away from a primary focus on psychologists, to psychology and its applications.This paper outlines recent developments designed to ensure delivery of high‐quality psychological interventions in Health and Offender Partnerships.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological treatments and identify required adaptations to increase acceptability and improve outcomes for people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment who experience psychological distress.

The Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group Specialised Register and other databases were searched for eligible studies. Inclusion criteria identified nine randomised controlled trials comparing a psychological intervention (cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation training therapies, multimodal therapies, psychodynamic therapy, counselling and cognitive rehabilitation) with usual care, with measures of depression and/or anxiety as an outcome. The appraisal of papers was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Data was analysed using meta-analysis.

A small, significant effect size before to after intervention was revealed, suggesting that psychological treatments may be effective in reducing psychological distress in people with dementia, with several therapy adaptations identified.

Because of methodological limitations and a small number of studies evaluated, the quality of evidence was low for outcomes for depression, and there were no significant outcomes in anxiety.

The current review offers a unique contribution in identifying specific adaptations deemed helpful in improving the accessibility and acceptability of therapy for people with dementia, suggesting therapy can be adjusted enough to support this client-group. Future studies should use high-quality trials using standardised psychological interventions, of sufficient length, with long-term follow-up and offer of specific adaptations to increase accessibility and outcomes.

Work-related stress amongst staff working in direct care roles in mental health and intellectual disability settings is associated with a range of problematic outcomes. There has been a proliferation of research into the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based interventions in this staff population. The purpose of this paper is to review the extant literature.

A systematic search of the literature was conducted, and seven studies identified which met the criteria for inclusion in the review, of which four were eligible for meta-analysis.

Results of the meta-analysis were most convincing for the effectiveness of ACT-interventions to reduce psychological distress within a subgroup of those with higher distress at baseline. There was no statistically significant effect for the amelioration of burnout, nor for an increase in psychological flexibility (a key ACT construct).

Conceptual issues are considered including the purpose and treatment targets of ACT interventions, such as supporting valued living rather than diminishing stress per se. Methodological issues are discussed around the measurement of psychological flexibility.

This review makes recommendations for future research and for the implementation of ACT-interventions for work-related stress in these settings.

Achievement motivation is not a fixed quantity. Rather, it depends, in part, on one’s subjective construal of the learning environment and their place within it – their narrative. In this paper, we describe how brief interventions can maximize student motivation by changing the students’ narratives.

We review the recent field experiments testing the efficacy of social-psychological interventions in classroom settings. We focus our review on four types of interventions: ones that change students’ interpretations of setbacks, that reframe the learning environment as fair and nonthreatening, that remind students of their personal adequacy, or that clarify students’ purpose for learning.

Such interventions can have long-lasting benefits if changes in students’ narratives lead to initial achievement gains, which further propagate positive narratives, in a positive feedback loop. Yet social-psychological interventions are not magical panaceas for poor achievement. Rather, they must be targeted to specific populations, timed appropriately, and given in a context in which students have opportunities to act upon the messages they contain.

Social-psychological interventions can help many students realize their achievement potential if they are integrated within a supportive learning context.

It is widely acknowledged that there is a significant gap between the demand for psychological therapy services and the supply (Bower & Gilbody, 2005). It is also well‐known that the health needs of people with learning disabilities are typically greater than those of the rest of the population, and that they are more likely to experience mental health problems and psychological distress (Lindsey, 2002). Difficulties in accessing psychological therapy services and long waiting times have been commonplace in recent years (Richards et al, 2003). Current moves towards modernising the NHS have led to increased accountability and competition between health providers, and many providers of psychological services have tried to increase their accessibility, effectiveness and efficiency. Adaptations to referral pathways and service delivery models in psychological care services have made changes to how clients access services and the input they receive. Accessible services, employing collaborative and stepped care models, have been identified as effective in delivering services in ways which best meet the needs of individuals and maximise the efficient use of resources (Bower & Gilbody, 2005). In our local psychology service for adults with learning disabilities, we have attempted to develop service delivery strategies and modernise referral routes so that services can be delivered which better meet the needs of our client group by optimising accessibility, efficiency and effectiveness.

Disaster responders play a crucial role in providing aid to individuals and communities following catastrophic events. Being tasked to protect and preserve life and property, these groups of professionals are constantly exposed to various hazards, which puts them at risk of negative mental health consequences. This chapter describes and discusses these mental health effects and interventions for disaster responders in Southeast Asia. The chapter defines who the disaster responders are in Southeast Asian countries. Drawing from the literature, this chapter enumerates the various positive and negative psychological consequences of disaster response, and the risk and protective factors associated with disaster response work. This chapter also describes the different interventions, such as psychological first aid and psychotherapy, following the Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) (2007) guidelines on conducting mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS), and focusing on the Southeast Asian context. This chapter ends with a discussion of the different challenges of providing MHPSS in Southeast Asia and with some recommendations on how to improve the delivery of these services and the mental health of disaster responders in general.

The purpose of the study was to examine whether there were differences in the provision of non-pharmacological interventions based on the level of intellectual disability and the presence or absence of autism. Mental health conditions are often underdiagnosed in adults with intellectual disability and do not always receive psychological interventions as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellent guidelines. To realise the national UK programme’s aim of stopping the overuse of medications in people with intellectual disability, it is important that these individuals have access to appropriate non-pharmacological interventions. The authors examined the relationship between an individual’s level of intellectual disability and the presence or absence of autism with access to relevant non-pharmacological interventions from specialist community intellectual disability services.

A cross-sectional study of adults accessing four specialist intellectual disability services in North West England in 2019.

There was a high prevalence of mental health comorbidity, even higher for autistic adults. However, a relatively small percentage of the study population was receiving psychological interventions. The most frequent non-pharmacological intervention was a positive behaviour support plan, irrespective of comorbid mental illnesses.

Not having access to psychological interventions for the treatment of mental illness could result in poor health outcomes and increasing health inequalities. The study highlights the need for developing psychological interventions, particularly for those with moderate to severe intellectual disability and for those with associated autism.

This large sample study examined the relationship between intellectual disability level and the presence of autism with accessing psychological interventions.

In this study, the authors aimed to compare the effectiveness of low-intensity psychological interventions provided face-to-face (FTF) with those provided by telephone and video-based modalities, in a primary care psychology service for individuals with mild-to-moderate mental health difficulties.

Participants (N = 384) were service users who completed at least one intervention with the service over a two-year period between 2019 and 2021. Using psychometric measures of anxiety and low mood, a repeated measures design pre-, mid- and post-intervention evaluated service users’ clinical outcomes. Data analysis was carried out on those participants (N = 289) who had completed all three of the required psychometric measures.

All formats of intervention showed a significant and equivalent reduction in low mood and anxiety scores at the completion of the intervention, regardless of the format of therapy. This suggests no discernible difference in the effectiveness of the three formats of intervention in this service. In addition, no significant association was found between the format of intervention and service user dropout rates.

This study availed of data arising pre and during a pandemic as a naturalistic experiment into the use of telehealth in delivering brief psychological interventions in a frontline community service. The effectiveness of telephone and video-based brief psychological interventions was found to be comparable to that experienced by FTF interventions. This provides preliminary support for the inclusion of telehealth options for service users engaging with low-intensity psychotherapeutic services.