Mental health problems

This learning object focuses primarily on the later stages of dementia and on managing the more significant or prominent challenges - and symptoms - associated with this level of dementia. The material aims to reflect, where possible, the experiences of people with dementia and their family carers. Many of the examples given are located in a care home setting although the issues are also very relevant to supporting a person with dementia in the community.

Clinical guideline which provides best practice advice on the care of adults with autism. The guidance covers the following key areas: general principles of care; identification and assessment; and interventions for autism, challenging behaviour, coexisting mental disorders. Assessment and interventions for families, partners and carers and organisation and delivery of care are also covered.

Background: Individual assessment of needs has been recognised as the most appropriate way to allocate health and social care resources. These assessments, however, are often made by the staff or by a carer who acts as an advocate for the user themselves. Little is known about how these proxy measures compare to how individual patients perceive their own needs.

Aim: The aim of this study was to measure and compare ratings of need for older people with mental health problems by the older person themselves, their carer, and an appropriate staff member.

Up to one and a half million people in Britain are involved in caring for a relative or friend with mental illness or dementia. Recent government policy has emphasised the needs of this particular group of carers, but effective support can be implemented only if managers and practitioners know what works.

Looks at the findings from a review of mental health carer support and the effectiveness of the services on offer. The review was carried out by the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of York.

This paper addresses a number of issues concerning the future prospects for social work and mental health in England and the implications of these for social work education. In particular the significance of interprofessional practice and education will be examined and these will be located within the wider context of the social work contribution to mental health services. The experience of social work in promoting the interests and involvement of service users and carers and of working within a holistic model will also be recognised.

To identify and evaluate the reliability and quality of educational materials provided to individuals with schizophrenia and their carers. Materials used by mental health professionals working in community and in-patient settings were collated. Two independent raters used the ‘Discern’ questionnaire to assess the publications.

Few researchers have explored family carers’ perspectives of smoking by their family members with mental illness, despite smoking rates remaining high for people with mental illness. In-depth qualitative interviews with twelve South Australian family carers explored their experiences and views of providing care for people with mental illness who smoke. Data were analysed thematically. Around the central theme of the caring role within the context of mental illness and smoking, were three interrelated themes: (1) responsibility; (2) accommodation; and, (3) dissonance.

In many cases the consumers of mental health information and support are the families of mental health sufferers. The aim of the project was to understand resilience in people who live with or support a family member with a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental illness. Participants were 15 carers (one male, 14 female). Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using content analysis. Eight recurring themes emerged which indicated the challenges the carers faced and provided indications of the positive and negative personal, family and social factors that impacted on their lives.

The term leadership has been often applicable within the work domain, where development programmes are aimed at managers and lead organisations. However the government has recognised that changes in public services require the collaboration of many stakeholders working together in partnership and has placed at the core of its policies the need to include users and carers.

The National Institute for Mental Health England (NIMHE) was established in 2002, and from the beginning had a commitment to put people who use services at the centre of their work, and involve service users and carers in the planning and delivery of work. In 2004 the NIMHE executive team conduced a review of service users and carer involvement at all levels within NIMHE, with the aim of identifying what action was needed to develop a more co-ordinated and strategic approach. This article provides a brief overview of the review, its key findings and recommendations.