A new national survey about depression has just launched. It’s organised by an impressive group of partners, who want to improve care, support and treatment for people affected by depression. Depression affects 1 in 10 adults in any year, and can have debilitating consequences. We know that research can improve lives; improve diagnosis, treatments, care and [read the full story…]
Here at the National Elf Service, we are committed to highlighting and discussing evidence based practice. Our usual approach is to focus posts around a piece of recently published research, but this post is different, responding as it is to the tragic events of last year that led to Connor Sparrowhawk’s death. Just over a [read the full story…]
Out in the woodland we are pleased that recent advances in medical care mean that more patients are surviving critical illnesses within intensive care units (ICU). “But what does that have to do with the Mental Elf?” I hear you say. Well, we Mental Elves are wondering whether this advancement in medical technology and technique are actually putting people [read the full story…]
The majority of the studies relating to alcohol use by people with learning disabilities have shown that this is lower than in the general population. Studies have tended to focus on issues of misuse however, although we did post about an article a couple of years back in 2012 where the author raised a question [read the full story…]
Pain is a common side effect of orthodontic treatment and it is particularly common in the first 24 hours following appliance placement. The aims of this prospective controlled longitudinal study were to assess subjective pain experience and oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) in patients over a 3-month period, following placement of their fixed appliances. [read the full story…]
How many children develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after a traumatic experience such as an assault, a car crash, war or disaster? William Yule, one of the godfathers of child traumatic stress research, once pointed out that rates reported in separate studies varied from 0 to 100%. So what is on average the rate [read the full story…]
Yesterday we looked at the reported periodontal outcomes from a multicenter trial that compared the outcomes for two different treatment options for the shortened dental arch. Today we are considering the report of the oral health quality of life outcomes (OHRQoL). As outlined previously patients were randomised into two groups; a partial removable dental prosthesis [read the full story…]
People with learning disabilities are 10 times more likely to have serious sight problems than other people and if people have severe or profound learning disabilities, the likelihood of having sight problems is further increased. The difficulties are compounded of course when people may not know they have a problem and may not be able [read the full story…]
The impact of ethnicity on treatment and engagement with mental health services is well documented. John Baker’s recent Mental Elf post highlights the damning evidence behind murmurs of institutional racism within the NHS that just won’t go away: certain ethnic groups consistently experience lower quality care and poor outcomes across a wide range of health [read the full story…]
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) focuses on evoking desired behaviour rather than on diminishing existing problem behaviour. It is goal directed and collaborative in its approach to helping people achieve behavioural change. The therapist works to help establish a vision of a desired future using a series of precisely worded questions. In SFBT, the goal of [read the full story…]
