In 2010 the Welsh Assembly passed a new piece of legislation called the Mental Health (Wales) Measure, which aims to ensure that people with mental health problems are appropriately cared for. The Act stipulates that assessment and treatment of mental health issues are a legal duty of Local Health Boards and Local Authorities and seeks [read the full story…]
A new cross-sectional survey published in The Lancet has revealed some unsurprising but nonetheless sobering facts about how people with depression are stigmatised. The research team, funded by money from the European Commission, interviewed 1,082 people with depression from 35 countries across the world. They used the discrimination and stigma scale (version 12; DISC-12) to [read the full story…]
There has been a lot of discussion over recent years about the ways in which genetic testing may help make the treatment of depression become more targeted and effective. The theory is that genetic markers may help predict how different people are likely to respond to different drugs. This is clearly something that would interest [read the full story…]
There is a great deal of interest in using information and communication technology (ICT) to support and treat people with mental health conditions. In the broadest sense, ICT includes not just computers, but also telephones, TV and radio; essentially any medium that can communicate information in a multimedia format. ICT interventions can be delivered at [read the full story…]
This new briefing from the NHS Confederation introduces joint personal budgets for health and social care. It gives the context behind their development, explains how they might work and lists some of the issues that need to be considered before they could be used at scale. Delivering integrated care is obviously hugely beneficial to the [read the full story…]
The new batch of Cochrane systematic reviews are published today and there are a couple of important new mental health reviews that I’ll be blogging about over the next few days. First comes a piece of research looking at the effectiveness of collaborative care for patients with depression or anxiety. Collaborative care involves a range [read the full story…]
Do you live or work in the Oxford or London area? We are at an exciting stage in the development of the Mental Elf and would like to meet some of our users and get feedback on what we’ve done so far and share some of our new ideas with you. We only need about [read the full story…]
The ADHD Voices (Voices On Identity, Childhood, Ethics and Stimulants) report was published yesterday and received a significant amount of press coverage. The outcomes of this work are a 46-page report and 18-minute video, that aim to inspire a fresh public conversation about the ethics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and stimulant drug treatments [read the full story…]
This new briefing paper from the NHS Confederation provides a clear overview of the mental health marketplace in England. Over £7 billion was invested in adult and older people mental health services in 2010/11. Most providers of services are statutory organisations, but there are also many charities, companies and social enterprises who make up the market. [read the full story…]
NHS Evidence have published an evidence update on generalised anxiety disorder in adults. Evidence updates are summaries of selected high quality evidence that has appeared since the relevant guideline was published, in this case NICE clinical guideline 113 ‘Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) in adults: management in primary, secondary and community care’ [read the full story…]
