Kirsten Lawson

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Kirsten is a Consultant at Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust. She has previously worked to develop a network of Liaison services across the Trust; service development within community based services and now clinically works on acute inpatient services. Throughout her career she has gained a wealth of experience in management and leadership roles. Kirsten is a displaced Scot; part geek, part Christmas fanatic, part elf and National Patient Safety & Care Award winner. She is passionate about learning and development; bringing Psychiatry to the masses. She can be found on twitter as @LiaisonLawson.

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Liaison Psychiatry for all!!

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When I am not being an elf, I am very proud to work within Liaison Psychiatry and to be actively developing Liaison services across Kent and Medway. For those of you who haven’t come across Liaison before,  we work within the overlapping area between physical health and mental health, so dealing with physical health problems and [read the full story…]

Music therapy is a hit with the patients, but not in the results

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In the Woodland we all enjoy a good sing-a-long, but can this actually be therapeutic? Music therapy has a growing database with regards to its use in helping to treat a variety of mental health disorders. It is thought of as a systematic intervention that uses music experiences (active or receptive) and the relationships that [read the full story…]

#MindfulnessMonday – Mindfulness-based stress reduction works for patients with breast cancer

Patients with breast cancer commonly have lots on their mind (psychological distress)

Within the woodland October is a month of themes. Many of you will be familiar with #Stoptober, which always helps any elves who sneak round the the back of the woodshed, to give up smoking. You may be less aware of our #MindfulnessMonday activities that will be sprinkled across the month; showcasing the potential benefits that [read the full story…]

Psychiatric comorbidity increases the risk of premature mortality in epilepsy

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There is a back to school feeling in the air in the Woodland this week, and so this comes to you with the help of my shiny new yellow pencil case. Epilepsy affects around 70 million people around the world and premature mortality is substantial with almost half of epilepsy-related deaths occuring in those younger [read the full story…]

Music interventions to replace sedatives for preoperative anxiety?

Does this make you feel anxious?

In the Woodland we have previously looked at musical interventions for agitation in dementia and depression. In June 2013 the Cochrane Collaboration published a systematic review of musical interventions for preoperative anxiety. As may be expected, people awaiting surgical procedures often experience high levels of anxiety. This anxiety is important as it can result in [read the full story…]

Depression increases risk of all cause mortality (not just heart disease) in diabetes

Depression is associated with mortality of all causes

This blog is coming across the woodland in stereo as the Diabetes and Mental Elf join forces. In 2011 the Diabetes Elf highlighted Depression and Diabetes: a two way street? a systematic review looking at cause and effect of diabetes and depression and the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease is not contested. However moving forward [read the full story…]

Apathy secondary to stroke is more frequent than depression

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Some days even the most committed of Elves can be a little reluctant to return to work in the woodland. What must it be like though to feel like that every day?  Apathy (diminished motivation, lack of emotion, interest or concern) is thought to be a frequent complication of stroke associated with poorer outcomes, but [read the full story…]

Daily psychological demands are associated with progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis

National Heart Month

As the British Heart Foundation National Heart Month draws to a close Lifestyle Elf and I were discussing their blog on heart attacks not being reduced in people taking vitamins and antioxidants which led to us to thinking about the relationship between stress and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Our colleagues in the Pittsburgh Health Heart Project [read the full story…]