Showing posts with label psychosis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychosis. Show all posts

Friday, 10 October 2014

WMHD II c/o LSE: Investing in crisis care for people with schizophrenia makes moral and economic sense

“When someone has a mental health crisis, it is distressing and frightening for them as well as the people around them. Urgent and compassionate care in a safe place is essential – a police cell should never need to be used because mental health services are not available. For me, crisis care is the most stark example of the lack of equality between mental and physical health.” 
(The Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, Care and Support Minister)
There is a strong moral and economic case for investing in innovative approaches that support people with schizophrenia to live independently in the community. Crisis resolution and home treatment teams and crisis houses can help reduce the need for expensive hospital admissions with some studies suggesting that the costs of care can be reduced by up to 30% through these service models. There is a clear potential for Clinical Commissioning Groups to make better use of their resources by investing in home treatment teams and crisis houses as approaches to crisis resolution.
My source: The London School of Economics and Political Science, Health and Social Care blog email

Hodges' model in recovery ...
Jones P. (2014) Using a conceptual framework to explore the dimensions of recovery and their relationship to service user choice and self-determination. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. Vol 3, No 4, (2013) pp.305-311.

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Computer-based 'avatar' therapy promising for persecutory auditory hallucinations

A study in the British Journal of Psychiatry has reported symptom reductions among patients hearing voices, who developed computerised 'avatars' of the voices and then engaged in dialogue with them. When compared with treatment as usual during a randomised trial, the therapy group showed mean reductions in scores for auditory hallucinations and for the omnipotence and malevolence of the voices. The researchers conclude: 'Patients who are able to sustain a dialogue with their persecutor feel much more in control.'
BJP June 2013, 202:428-433
Source:
http://www.mental-health-forum.co.uk/news-blog.html

In addition see and listen to:

BBC Radio 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23141916

Friday, 16 November 2012

Conceptual Reflections on Schizophrenia - Hodges' model

A decade ago I was studying the Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis (COPE) pathway part-time at Manchester University. The student body was interprofessinal made up of nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses and if memory serves me right people from the voluntary (third) sector. What I learned then left me wondering where I had been all those years since qualifying (lost in IT....).

There are many universities now delivering this curriculum, presenting the very latest research. The lecturers are frequently the researchers themselves, working in ongoing multicenter trials studying  various aspects of the treatment and care management of psychosis.

This is why it is very alarming to hear of the lack of progress not just within in-patient care as per the findings of the Schizophrenia Commission, but the delivery of care for these individuals and their families across the health and social care system. Of course, as a former student and holder of a PG(Dip.) I am not at present practising these skills formally.

In the h2cm table that follows I have highlighted some of the main concepts across the care domains of Hodges' model:

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

beliefs, perception, attention, anxiety, stress, vulnerability, pleasure, feedback, motivation, mood, therapies, therapeutic relationship, communication, assets, cognitive triad, perception, delusions, hallucinations, positive and negative symptoms, person-centered care, existing coping strategies, mental health assessment, literacies (3Rs, emotional, health), salience, attention, attribution, meaning, creativityphysical health, weight, fitness, side effects, medication, atypical antipsychotics, evidence,
genetics, research, diagnosis, (cognitive) information processing, dual diagnosis, risk, models of care, recovery, hierarchy of clinical evidence, care processes - assessment, care planning, access to interventions, audio recording of sessions, protocols, DSM IV
clinical supervision, social attitudes - family, friends, community, stigma, myth, media, carers, familes, social relationships, network, self help groups, survivors,
www.hearing-voices.org/
activities, daily routine, 'value' of a diagnosis - pros & cons (discuss), community centers, clinical supervision, positive risk management, employment, social history of mental health, social psychiatry, stories,education - schools & community,
'community care', housing
mental health history, institutional vs. community care, mental health law, autonomy, consent, capacity, best interests, equity
mental health services, early intervention, access, POLICY, antipsychiatry, equity, governance, data gathering, statistics, reporting, outcomes, services,
secure provision, early intervention, crisis intervention, DSM V, commissioning,
funding for mental health, education and training, sickness - welfare benefits - 'incapacity' review 'return to work'

The relative position of concepts above does not indicate priority.