Welcome to the Mental Elf. This website will help you find just what you need to keep up-to-date with all of the important and reliable mental health research and guidance.

Our team of mental health experts post blogs every week day with short and snappy summaries that highlight evidence-based publications relevant to mental health practice in the UK and further afield.

All of our blogs are free to read. This is important because our vision for this website is to facilitate a democratic conversation between patients, clinicians, researchers, carers, policy makers, health and social care professionals and others. It’s vital that this discussion takes place in a public space so we can learn from each other.

Our bloggers give their time for free and they are all really keen to contribute because they shared our ethos for clearly communicating evidence-based research to anyone who is interested. This website is very much a group effort.

We scour over 500 sources of evidence (journals, databases, websites) every week, to find key guidance, systematic reviews and other high quality research and reports that will help make your practice more evidence-based. The selection process has no input from any external bodies, publishers, sponsors or commercial organisations.

No bias, no misinformation, no spin, just what you need.

Who started the Mental Elf?

The blog was started by André Tomlin in May 2011. André’s an Information Scientist and has worked in mental health since the late nineties, formerly at the University of Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Mental Health and since 2002 as MD of Minervation Ltd an evidence-based healthcare consultancy based in Oxford.

After  2 very successful years of blogging as the Mental Elf, André decided to invite colleagues to join him as contributors to the site. It’s great to involve a wide range of people in this venture, to bring in a fresh perspective and their considerable knowledge and clinical experience.

How is the Mental Elf funded?

The National Elf Service website, which contains the Mental Elf and a number of other elves covering topics from dentistry to social care, was set up by Minervation Ltd. The Founders of Minervation (André Tomlin and Douglas Badenoch) are also Founders and Directors of the National Elf Service. The website is self-funded and receives no money from the pharmaceutical industry or other commercial organisations. We feel that it is important we remain independent from any commercial organisations who work in mental health.

In 2012, we received a small research and development grant from the UK Government to carry out the market research to get our website fully tested and launched.

Does the Mental Elf make money?

All of the National Elf Service blogs (including the Mental Elf) are free. That will always remain so. Contributors are not paid for their blogs, and we only work with people who have no conflict of interest.

However, it costs money to run the website. We generate revenue from Membership. Our members enjoy the added benefits of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) system within the National Elf Service website. This is aimed at students and professionals who need to keep up to date with the latest research in a way that can be linked to their CPD. The CPD system has been built with significant investment from Minervation and is run as a business. We sell individual and institutional subscriptions to this website and our clients include universities, charities, the NHS and local authorities. An institutional subscription includes bulk access to our CPD membership area as well as consultancy support from our team. Find out more by reading our publicity leaflet.

Our plan is to build this business so we can grow the website and include other health topics in our list of elves.

Is the National Elf Service ever paid for content?

No. We do not accept commissioned articles, and we do not work with authors who have a conflict of interest with the paper in question.

Who writes for the Mental Elf?

We have an ever-expanding team of people who contribute to the site. The group includes senior clinicians and researchers, health and social care professionals, academics, service users, students, information scientists and carers.

We’re adding to our network of writers all the time, so find out more if you’re interested in getting involved yourself.

1. Clive Adams, Chair of Mental Health Services Research and Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group at the University of Nottingham
2. Sally Adams, Lecturer in Health Psychology at the University of Bath
3. Lia Ali, Consultant Psychiatrist for Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
4. Eva Alisic, Psychologist and Research Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia
5. Ahmed Al-Shihabi, Medicine Student at University College London
6. Rachel Allan, Practice Leader for The Royal Mencap Society
7. Rob Allison, Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
8. Murtada Alsaif, Pharmacist
9. Ian Anderson, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester
10. Steve Appleton, Managing Director, Contact Consulting
11. Golnar Aref-Adib, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at UCL and Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust
12. Douglas Badenoch, Director of Minervation Ltd
13. Joe Barnby, Research Assistant, University College London
14. John Baker, Chair of Mental Health Nursing at the University of Leeds
15. Jonny Benjamin, Mental Health Campaigner, Film Producer, Public Speaker, Writer and Vlogger
16. Laura Bennett, Research Assistant for the Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme (LeDeR) at University of Bristol
17. Clara Belessiotis, Core Trainee in Psychiatry at East London Foundation Trust
18. Victoria Betton, Director of mHabitat
19. Vishal Bhavsar, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellow in Epidemiology, Institute of Psychiatry
20. Helen Bould, Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
21. Simon Bradstreet, Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow
22. Rachel Brand, Clinical Psychologist and Research Fellow at Phoenix Australia: Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, The University of Melbourne
23. Josefien Breedvelt, Research Officer, Mental Health Foundation
24. Simon Brett , Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner & MSci student at the University of Reading
25. Amy Broadbent, Research Assistant, Cambridge
26. Matthew Broome, Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
27. Mark Brown, Development Director of Social Spider CIC
28. Stefan Brugger, NIHR Academic Clinical Research Fellow at UCL
29. Martin Brunet, GP from the Binscombe Medical Centre
30. Kjetil Gundro Brurberg, Researcher in the Division of Primary Care and Clinical Procedures, Norwegian Knowledge Center for Health Services in Public Health, Oslo, Norway
31. Jennifer Burgess, Academic Clinical Fellow in General Adult Psychiatry in Newcastle
32. Lisa Burscheidt, Assistant Librarian at North East London NHS Foundation Trust
33. Alastair Canaway, Research Fellow, University of Warwick
34. Victoria Carlisle, PhD Student, Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University of Bristol
35. Sarah Carr, Associate Professor of Mental Health Research at Middlesex University, Independent Consultant at Sarah Carr and Associates Ltd
36. Brant Cebulla, Development Director for the Vitamin D Council in California, USA
37. Emma Cernis, Research Assistant, Oxford
38. Iain Chalmers, Coordinator, James Lind Initiative
39. Sarah Chapman, Knowledge Broker at UK Cochrane Centre
40. Paul Christiansen, Lecturer at the University of Liverpool
41. Andrea Cipriani, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford; Editor in Chief of Evidence-Based Mental Health
42. Natasha Clarke, PhD Student at the University of Liverpool
43. Alys Cole-King, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, the Royal College of Psychiatrists Spokesperson on Suicide and Self harm, and the Clinical Director of Connecting with People
44. Dean Connolly, Student at University College London
45. Nicola Coop, Assistant Psychologist
46. Mick Cooper, Professor of Counselling, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

47. Samuele Cortese, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant Child Psychiatrist at Solent NHS Trust

48. Marie Crabbe, Research Assistant, Oxford Health Foundation NHS Trust
49. Jake Crawshaw, PhD candidate at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London
50. Ioana Cristea, Associate Professor at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca and a Research Fellow at the University of Pisa, Italy
51. Jazz Croft, PhD candidate, Centre for Academic Mental Health, University of Bristol
52. Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Salford
53. Emily Currell, MSc Student at University College London
54. Sasha Danilina, PhD Student at University College London
55. Suzanne Dash, Graduate-Entry Medicine Student at the University of Oxford
56. Geoff Davies, Trainee Clinical Psychologist, University of Surrey
57. Kelly Davies, Lecturer in Mental Health, University of York
58. John M Davis, Professor of Psychiatry and Research Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago
59. Jennifer de Bayer, Research Coordinator, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Oxford University
60. Caroline De Brun, Knowledge and Evidence Manager, Public Health England Knowledge and Library Services
61. Angharad de Cates, Psychiatry Registrar and Honorary Research Fellow at Warwick Medical School
62. Jill Domoney, Clinical Psychologist and Researcher, Section of Women’s Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
63. Ailsa Donnelly, Lay Chair of the PRIMER group
64. Muna Dubad, PhD Student, University of Warwick
65. Jay Duckworth, PhD Student, University of Liverpool
66. Edzard Ernst, Emeritus Professor at Exeter University
67. Michelle Eskinazi, MSC Student at University College London & Core Psychiatry Trainee at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust
68. Norah Essali, Medical student, University of Kalamoon, Syria
69. Pete Etchells, Senior Lecturer in Biological Psychology, Bath Spa University
70. Katie Evans, Head of Research and Policy at Money and Mental Health
71. Alison Faulkner, Survivoer Researcher and Trainer in Mental Health
72. Mina Fazel, Associate Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Oxford University Department of Psychiatry and Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
73. Matt Field, Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool
74. Caroline Fiennes, Director, Giving Evidence
75. Meg Fluharty, Research Assistant, Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University of Bristol
76. Andrés Fonseca, Consultant Psychiatrist, CEO of Health eLiving Partnership, Honorary Lecturer at UCL
77. Tamsin Ford, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Exeter
78. Alexander Foster, Research Worker in Global Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
79. Una Foye, Research Officer, Mental Health Foundation
80. Suzi Gage, PhD Epidemiologist at the University of Bristol & Blogger at the Guardian Science Network
81. Linda Gask, Emerita Professor of Primary Care Psychiatry at the University of Manchester
82. Clarissa Giebel, Researcher and PhD student, PSSRU, University of Manchester
83. Guy Goodwin, Professor of Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Oxford
84. Amy Green, Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Bristol
85. Ellen Grimas, PhD Student, Imperial College
86. Ian Hamilton, Lecturer in Mental Health in the Department of Health Sciences at York University
87. Ben Hannigan, Reader in Mental Health Nursing in the School of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University
88. Keir Harding, Occupational Therapist, Cynnwys (together), the personality disorder service in Cardiff
89. Amanda Harris, Psychologist and Director of the Australian Child & Adolescent Trauma, Loss & Grief Network
90. Judith Harrison, Welsh Clinical Academic Training Fellow, Cardiff University
91. Camille Hart, Psychiatric Trainee Doctor, Queen’s University, Belfast
92. Helge Hasselmann, Research Masters Student in Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences at Maastricht University
93. Simon Hatcher, Full Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Ottawa
94. Joseph Hayes, Clinical Training Fellow, UCL Division of Psychiatry
95. Laura Hemming, PhD Student, University of Manchester
96. Jessamy Hibberd, Chartered Clinical Psychologist
97. Kerrie-Anne Ho, PhD Candidate, University of New South Wales, Australia
98. Chris Hollis, Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham and Consultant in Developmental Neuropsychiatry with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
99. Mark Horowitz, Training Psychiatrist from Australia who is completing a PhD at King’s College London
100. Maxine Howard, PhD student at University College London
101. Dochka Hristova, Project Coordinator for the National Elf Service
102. Samei Huda, Consultant Psychiatrist, Pennine Care, Manchester
103. Liz Hughes, Professor of Mental Health at University of Huddersfield and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
104. Jane Iles, Clinical Psychologist working in CAMHS and Research Associate at Imperial College London
105. Pamela Jacobsen, Clinical Psychologist and NIHR Research Fellow at King’s College London
106. Alex Jarram, PhD student at University College London
107. Sameer Jauhar, Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the Institute of Psychiatry
108. Sam Jee, Research Associate at the University of Manchester
109. Sonia Johnson, Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry at UCL, Director of the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit
110. Susie Johnson, Recent Graduate from Bristol University
111. Mandy Johnstone, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Edinburgh
112. Andrew Jones, Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool
113. Ian Jones, Professor of Perinatal Psychiatry at Cardiff University, Director of the Welsh National Centre for Mental Health
114. Jonathan Jones, PhD Psychology student at the University of Exeter
115. Mona Jones, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, AnDY Research clinic, University of Reading
116. Dan Joyce, Clinical Lecturer at Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, Junior Doctor in general adult psychiatry
117. Joe Judge, Clinical Psychologist, Hamilton Psychological Therapies Team, Lanarkshire, Scotland
118. Eleanor Kennedy, PhD Student at Bristol Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University of Bristol
119. Patrick Kennedy-Williams, Trainee Clinical Psychologist & Doctoral Student, University of Oxford
120. Olivia Kirtley, Research Assistant, University of Glasgow
121. Pooky Knightsmith, Speaker, Lecturer, Trainer, Author and Vice Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition
122. Sarah Knowles, Research Fellow, NIHR School for Primary Care Research
123. Stanley Kutcher, Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health and the Director WHO Collaborating Care in Mental Health Policy and Training at Dalhousie University and IWK Health Centre in Canada
124. Jennifer Laidlaw, PGY-5 Resident in Psychiatry, University of Toronto
125. Nicky Lambert, Director of Teaching and Learning Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine at Middlesex University
126. Alex Langford, Psychiatrist, Oxford
127. Jennifer Lau, University Lecturer at the University of Oxford. Director of the Researching Emotional Disorders and Development (REDD) lab
128. Keith Laws, Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Hertfordshire
129. Kirsten Lawson, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist and Clinical Lead for Liaison Psychiatry Services at Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust
130. Caroline Leah, Senior Lecturer and Social Worker based at Manchester Metropolitan University
131. William Lee, Clinical Associate Professor (Reader) in Psychiatry at Plymouth University
132. Simon Leigh, Health Economist at Lifecode® Solutions and Nexus Clinical Analytics, Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool
133. Gemma Lewis, University College London
134. Karina Lovell, Director of Research and Professor of Mental Health, University of Manchester
135. Colleen Loo, Professor of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia
136. Raluca Lucacel, PhD Student, Cluj Napoca, Romania
137. Maartje Luijten, Assistant Professor, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
138. Lucy Maddox, NHS Clinical Psychologist, Lecturer and BSA Media Fellow
139. Sarah Man, Staff Nurse, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit
140. Sammy Man, Clinical Psychologist
141. Farhana Mann, Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow at University College London and Specialist Registrar (ST6) in General Adult Psychiatry in North London
142. Elena Marcus, Research Assistant at the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and University College London
143. Joanna Martin, PhD Student at Cardiff University
144. Steven Marwaha, Reader, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick
145. Lisa Marzano, Associate Professor in Psychology at Middlesex University
146. Olivia Maynard, Research Associate, Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at the University of Bristol
147. Edel Mc Glanaghy, Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the University of Edinburgh
148. Sarah McDonald, Clinical Psychologist
149. Iain McDougall, Specialist trainee in General Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Belfast
150. Carla McEnery, Provisional Psychologist and PhD candidate, Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
151. Andrew McIntosh, Professor of Biological Psychiatry in the University of Edinburgh Division of Psychiatry
152. Kwame McKenzie, CEO of Wellesley Institute
153. John McGowan, Director and Academic Director of the Clinical Psychology Training Scheme at the Salomons Centre for Applied Psychology, Kent
154. Kate McLaughlin, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington, USA
155. Kathryn Mitchell, Core Psychiatry Trainee working in the Belfast Trust, Northern Ireland
156. Mark Monaghan, Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at the University of Loughborough
157. Stephen Moore, Inpatient Psychiatrist in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital, Northern Ireland
158. Paul Morrison, Psychiatrist and Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, KCL
159. Michelle Moulds, Professor and PLuS Alliance Fellow, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia
160. Claire Mokrysz, PhD Student, University College London
161. John Moriarty, Research Fellow, University of Belfast
162. Marcus Munafò, Professor of Biological Psychology at the University of Bristol
163. Monisha Nahar, MSc Student, UCL
164. Akshay Nair, Wolfson Clinical Research Fellow, University College London
165. Josephine Neale, Trainee Psychiatrist in North London
166. Natalie Nelissen, Research Fellow at mHabitat
167. Rosalyn Nelson, Assistant Psychologist, North Wilts Memory Service, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
168. Nicola Newhouse, Researcher at Health Experiences Research Group, University of Oxford
169. Claire Niedzwiedz, Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health at the University of Edinburgh
170. Aileen O’Brien, Reader in Psychiatry and Education & Dean for Students at St George’s University of London
171. Elly O’Brien, Information Scientist, London
172. Siobhan O’Neill, Professor of Mental Health Sciences at Ulster University
173. Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Consultant in Public Health in Bradford & Airedale and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds
174. Chris O’Sullivan, Mental Health Foundation
175. Michael Ostacher, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine
176. Gozde Ozakinci, Health Psychologist and Lecturer in health psychology at the University of St Andrews
177. Geoff Page, Research Fellow, University of York
178. Laurence Palfreyman, Assistant Psychologist in South London
179. Carmine Pariante, Professor of Biological Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
180. Christopher Pell, In-patient General Adult Psychiatrist at the Susan Carnegie Centre in Angus, Scotland for NHS Tayside
181. Serap Pinar, Biomedical and Molecular Science Research (M.Sc) from King’s College London
182. Alexandra Pitman, Senior Clinical Lecturer in the UCL Division of Psychiatry and an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
183. Belinda Platt, Post-Doc at the LMU University Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
184. Amy Price, Trustee of the ThinkWell charity where she leads the PLOT-IT (Public Led Online Trials-Infrastructure and Tools) project
185. Paul Ramchandani, Reader in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry & Deputy Head, The Centre for Mental Health, Imperial College London
186. Matt Ravenhall, Final year Biology student at the University of York
187. Stefan Rennick-Egglestone, Digital Research Specialist, University of Nottingham
188. Laoise Renwick, Lecturer at the University of Manchester
189. Shirley Reynolds, Director of the Charlie Waller Institute and Professor of Evidence Based Psychological Therapies at the University of Reading
190. Thomas Richardson, Principal Clinical Psychologist at Solent NHS Trust
191. Abi Rose, Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Liverpool
192. Diana Rose, Professor of User-Led Research, Head of Section and Co-director Service User Research Enterprise (SURE), King’s College London
193. Sarah Rowe, Lecturer on the MSc Clinical Mental Health Sciences and MSc Mental Health Sciences Research, UCL Division of Psychiatry
194. Emma Saddleton, Research Worker and part-time MSc student at the Institute of Psychiatry, London
195. Tatiana Salisbury, Lecturer in Global Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
196. Paul Salkovskis, Director of the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training and Oxford Centre for Cognitive Therapy
197. Christopher Sampson, Health Economist at the University of Nottingham
198. Martyna Sawicka, Data Collection Coordinator, Arizona Twin Project at Arizona State University
199. Susanne Schweizer, Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.
200. Lucas Shelemy, PhD Researcher, University of Reading
201. Andrew Shepherd, Doctoral research Fellow at the University of Manchester and Higher Trainee in Forensic Psychiatry
202. Hilary Shepherd, MSc Dementia student at University College London
203. Lucy Simons, Research Fellow at NIHR MindTech Healthcare Technology Cooperative, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham
204. Mark Smith, IAPT Clinician working for Steps2Change and independent Psychotherapist Trainer
205. Francesca Solmi, Research Associate, Division of Psychiatry, University College London
206. Andrew Sommerlad, PhD Fellow, University College London
207. Emily Stapley, PhD Student at University College London
208. David Steele, Junior Doctor with an interest in psychology, psychiatry and public health
209. Becci Strawbridge, Mental Health Research, IoPPN, King’s College London
210. Caroline Struthers, Education and Training Manager for the EQUATOR Network
211. Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University
212. Irene Sutcliffe, Lived experience expert
213. Rebecca Syed, Researcher, King’s College London
214. Edward Sykes, Senior Press Manager and Head of Mental Health & Neuroscience, Science Media Centre
215. Danny Taggart, Academic Director, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Essex
216. Marcus Tan, Academic Clinical Fellow at Plymouth University School of Medicine
217. Rupert Thurston, Junior Doctor working in General Adult Psychiatry in the West Midlands
218. Caroline Tomes, Public Health Specialty Registrar currently working in Cambridge
219. André Tomlin, Managing Director of Minervation Ltd
220. Derek Tracy, Consultant Psychiatrist and Associate Clinical Director for crisis, inpatient, and rehabilitation services at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
221. Alison Turner, Head of the Evidence Analysis team within the Strategy Unit at NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
222. Alan Underwoord, Specialist Clinical Psychologist
223. Raphael Underwood, PhD candidate at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
224. Rachel Upthegrove, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, University of Birmingham
225. Anne-Laura van Harmelen, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
226. Kathryn Walsh, Research Associate at the University of Birmingham
227. Joanne Wallace, Graduate Entry Medical Student at The University of Warwick
228. Michael Walton, PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University
229. Fiona Warner-Gale, Joint Director of Associate Development Solutions Ltd
230. Andrew Watson, Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh
231. Jasmin Wertz, PhD Student, Kings College London
232. Simon Wessely, Chair of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences (IoPPN), King’s College London
233. Lucy Willetts, Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Accredited CBT Therapist
234. Sarsha Wilson, Research Assistant at the NIHR Oxford Cognitive Health Clinical Research Facility
235. Katrina Witt, Research Fellow with the Centre for Suicide Research at the University of Oxford
236. Stephen Wood, Professor of Adolescent Brain Development and Mental Health at the University of Birmingham
237. Fabio Zucchelli, Sport and Exercise Psychology MSc student

Who decides what evidence is included on the website?

We scour over 400 databases, journals, websites and other feeds to bring you the best available mental health evidence.  Items are selected using an evidence-based inclusion criteria to ensure they are relevant to UK practice and based on high quality research, policy and guidance.

The selection process has no input from any external bodies, publishers, sponsors or commercial organisations.

We critically appraise the material we find using the CASP critical appraisal checklists.

Press coverage

• Profile: André Tomlin. BJPsych Bulletin, April 2018.
• André Tomlin: Mental Elf Guru. The Lancet Psychiatry, January 2016.
• Keeping up to date with reliable mental health research: the Minervation white paper. Douglas Badenoch and André Tomlin, 19th May 2015.
• Keeping up to date with mental health research. André Tomlin, The Guardian, 15th Apr 2013.
• Treating mental illness in the digital age. Pete Etchells, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb 2013.
• The Mental Elf. Royal College of Psychiatrists useful resources, eNewsletter, Sep 2012.

Are there more elves for different health topics?

We are adding to our National Elf Service all the time.  Check out these other elves:

• The Child Elf
• The Commissioning Elf
• The Dental Elf
• The Diabetes Elf
• The Education Elf
• The Learning Disabilities Elf
• The Lifestyle Elf
• The Musculoskeletal Elf
• The Social Care Elf
• The Stroke Elf