Dementia ward inpatients need better protection from COVID-19

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Clarissa Giebel summarises a recent study on the prevalence, management, and outcomes of COVID-19 infections in older people and dementia patients on mental health wards.

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Home treatment by crisis resolution teams can prevent hospital admission, according to Swiss research

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Emmeline Lagunes Cordoba and Magdalena Skowronska review a recent Swiss RCT, which found that crisis resolution teams led to fewer hospital days per patient, but did not prevent hospital admission entirely.

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PACT advance decision-making template: is another form really the answer?

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Peter Bartlett considers the usefulness of the new PACT advance-decision making template, which is a fillable template for advance decision making in fluctuating mental health conditions – PACT (Preferences and Advance decisions for Crisis and Treatment).

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Carers’ experiences of involuntary admission under mental health legislation

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Juliana Onwumere summarises a recent qualitative review that explores carers’ experiences of involuntary admission of family members or loved ones to mental health inpatient units.

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What can be done during the MHA Assessment process to reduce compulsory psychiatric admissions?

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Kevin Stone writes his debut blog on a recent mixed methods study that aimed to identify factors in the MHA Assessment process which facilitate or impede reducing compulsory psychiatric admissions.

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Music groups on acute mental health inpatient wards

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Una Foye highlights a small qualitative study that explores the benefits of establishing music groups on acute mental health inpatient wards. She reflects on the boredom felt by many inpatients and the importance of social connection and a positive ward atmosphere that may indirectly improve recovery and mental well-being.

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Life after leaving hospital: when does a duty of care end?

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Sally McManus writes her debut elf blog on a recent national cohort study of multiple adverse outcomes following first discharge from psychiatric care, which finds that mental health inpatients are more likely to experience all types of adversity after leaving hospital.

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REsTRAIN YOURSELF: reducing restrictive practices on mental health wards #BCTcompare

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Krysia Canvin helps us prepare for the #BCTcompare event on Wed 5th June by blogging about a recent study, which looks at the outcome of a restraint reduction programme (‘REsTRAIN YOURSELF’) to minimise the use of physical restraint in acute mental health services.

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How should we assess suicide risk in mental health services, or should we stop doing it?

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Vishal Bhavsar reports on the development and validation of a new clinical prediction rule (the OxMIS tool), which has been developed by the Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology group at the University of Oxford to help predict the risk of suicide in people with severe mental illness.

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Suicide risk assessment among psychiatric inpatients: pessimism around predictive power

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Alex Langford appraises a systematic review that looks at high-risk categories for suicide risk assessment among psychiatric inpatients.

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