Category: Mental Health

Sexual safety on mental health wards

Care Quality Commission, September 2018
Care Quality Commission report based on an analysis of nearly 60,000 reports that found 1,120 sexual incidents involving patients, staff, visitors and others described in 919 reports – some of which included multiple incidents. More than a third of the incidents (457) could be categorised as sexual assault or sexual harassment of patients or staff.  Providers and people who use services told the CQC:

  1. People who use services do not always feel that they are kept safe from unwanted sexual behaviour
  2. Clinical leaders of mental health services do not always know what is good practice in promoting the sexual safety of people using the service and of their staff
  3. Many staff do not have the skills to promote sexual safety or to respond appropriately to incidents
  4. The ward environment does not always promote the sexual safety of people using the service
  5. Staff may under-report incidents and reports may not reflect the true impact on the person who is affected
  6. Joint-working with other agencies such as the police does not always work well in practice

Click here to view the full report.

Evaluation of the Advocacy in Wirral’s Independent Mental Health Act and Psychiatric Liaison Advocacy Services

Applied Health and Wellbeing Partnership, September 2018
Advocacy in Wirral (AiW) is a peer-led service which provides support, information and representation to people experiencing mental ill-health. AiW work across a range of areas, including community advocacy, welfare benefits, primary care advocacy, drug and alcohol advocacy, Independent Mental Capacity Act advocacy, and hospital advocacy. Hospital advocates provide advice and practical support regarding a range of issues, including welfare benefits, housing, employment, debts and legal issues. Hospital advocates can also attend ward rounds, accompany clients to meetings, and represent clients at local and regional meetings, helping to promote the needs of their client and bring about changes to the support and care of the client. Two elements of the AiW hospital advocacy service, Independent Mental Health Act (IMHA) advocacy and Psychiatric Liaison (PL) advocacy, have been evaluated to explore effectiveness and identity impacts and outcomes.
Click here to view the full report.

Coping through Football: evaluation report 2018

Centre for Mental Health, September 2018
Does the ‘Coping Through Football’ programme deliver benefits to the physical and mental health of people living with mental health difficulties? Coping Through Football was founded by London Playing Fields Foundation, who started the initiative in 2005 in collaboration with North East London Foundation Trust and Leyton Orient Trust. It was conceived in response to the fact that the biggest cause of death of 20-49 year old men was suicide and that given that community mental health services were stretched to the limit, there was an over reliance on medication as a treatment. The report finds that for two out of three participants (39% of whom have schizophrenia) there was a positive change in lifestyle choices around healthy eating and smoking. 54% of participants went on to volunteering, education and training or employment. The report also records that there was a 12% reduction in the number of overnight hospital stays for those who were involved in the project. The report that the Coping Through Football programme is a low-cost intervention in the mental health sector. The cost of one person attending the programme every week for a year was £1,700, which is equivalent to four days in a mental health inpatient bed, or five A&E attendances. Our analysis also highlighted that “the annual cost of Coping Through Football for one year is the equivalent of the costs of schizophrenia to society for just over one person.
Click here to view the report.

Suicide prevention and peer support in the armed forces: Looking after your team

Ministry of Defence, September 2018
This guide gives advice on how to identify signs that someone may be having difficulties, ways of offering support and information on where help can be found. It builds on the range of support already available to service personnel who are struggling with their mental health, including access to specialist mental health medical care, training and education on good mental fitness and the Combat Stress 24-hour Mental Health Helpline.
Click here to view the guide.

Making The Difference: Breaking the link between school exclusion and social exclusion: 60-second Summary

Institute for Public Policy Research, August 2018
Institute for Public Policy Research, report that notes excluded children are the most vulnerable: twice as likely to be in the care of the state, four times more likely to have grown up in poverty, seven times more likely to have a special educational need and 10 times more likely to suffer recognised mental health problems. Yet our education system is profoundly ill-equipped to break a cycle of disadvantage for these young people.  A new programme should be established, committed to delivering the best in education to the most vulnerable children. Run by a dedicated education charity, leaders graduating from this new programme – The Difference – would be a catalyst for change throughout the education system.
Click here to view the report.