Do clinicians and clinical researchers do enough to foster social inclusion?Holttum, Sue
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-11-2014-0039
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to raise questions about the social issues involved in mental and physical health. It highlights how, even where social issues are evident, clinicians and clinical researchers often focus mainly on individual people and what has gone wrong with them. This has the effect of making it less likely that social exclusion and adversity will be taken into account or that clinicians will help to change these. Design/methodology/approach– Three journal papers are summarised. The first one reports an attempt to test whether depression is a result of people feeling defeated and trapped. The second paper reports the results of analysing medical writing about domestic abuse. The third paper discusses the need for trainee clinicians to be made more aware of social conditions that affect people's lives. Findings– It does appear that people who feel defeated and trapped are more likely to become depressed. However, the life circumstances that lead to feeling trapped need more attention. Medical writing about domestic abuse may need to incorporate the broader context so that it is not just seen as a “women's problem”. It may be worth training clinicians about social conditions and how they might help to change them. Originality/value– These papers highlight important links between social exclusion and mental and physical health. There is a key role for clinicians and clinical researchers to be more part of the solution where they sometimes unwittingly help maintain the problems.
A day in the life of a Peer Support Worker: One of those make or break visitsWatson, Emma
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-10-2014-0036
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe the experience of being a peer support worker (PSW). Design/methodology/approach– Narrative account of a one to one meeting with a peer written from the perspective of a PSW. Findings– Key reflections centre on the importance of establishing and maintaining boundaries, the role of trust, and a different understanding of what constitutes risk. Originality/value– While there is a great deal written about the theory of peer support work, little is published about PSWs experience. This paper provides important insights into the nature of peer support work.
Remarkable lives: Spencer Insley in conversation with Jerome CarsonInsley, Spencer; Carson, Jerome
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-11-2014-0038
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Spencer Insley. Design/methodology/approach– Spencer gives a short biographical account and is then interviewed by Jerome. Areas covered in the narrative are the misery of mental illness, the prodromal signs of illness, hospital admission and discharge to supported accommodation. Findings– Apart from the losses resulting from a diagnosis of major mental disorder, Spencer also talks about the loss of friendships. His admission to hospital was especially traumatic, leaving him frightened and confused and feeling he was treated like an animal. Research limitations/implications– While Spencer's is only one story of many, his experiences have a sorry familiarity to them. Practical implications– Too long denied in the history of psychiatry, service user narratives help us understand the nature of mental suffering and the often inadequate nature of service responses to mental distress. Social implications– Involuntary admissions to hospital need to be handled in a more therapeutic manner. Originality/value– So often it is nurses and occupational therapists who have the most impact on the lives of those with lived experience. Psychiatrists were felt not to be interested in Spencer, whereas his community mental health nurse “Had a genuine interest in what I was doing and how I was getting along”.
Real lives: promoting recovery through personalisation and peer supportPerkins, Rachel; Atkins, Julie; Hunter, Nicole; Repper, Poppy; Robertson, Peter David; Thornton, Phoebe; Thornton, Sue
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-11-2014-0037
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of Real Lives: a community interest company that provides peer support for people who face significant mental health challenges using personal budgets. Design/methodology/approach– The paper offers a descriptive summary of the vision behind Real Lives and the successful realisation of this vision in practice based on interviews by the first author with the directors, Operational Manager, Cafe Manager and “Peers and Allies for in Living” who provide support to clients. Findings– The successful development of Real Lives shows that it is possible to utilise peer support and personal budgets to a create small, values based, financially viable organisation outside the statutory sector that is part of its community and can provide outside the statutory sector. A service for people facing significant mental health challenges that is personalised, recovery-focused and puts the client in control and is focused on helping them to do the things they want to do and pursue their aspirations. Originality/value– Real Lives is an innovative recovery-focused service that is part of its community and offers a model for utilising Self-Directed Support and personal budgets and that might be replicated by others.
Creative minds: developing supportive creative opportunities in our communitiesWalters, Philip
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-12-2014-0041
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe South West Yorkshire Partnerships Foundation Trust's Creative Minds Strategy designed to build a strong infrastructure of community and voluntary organisations able to work with the Trust providing creative opportunities for all who access services. Design/methodology/approach– A descriptive account of the background, philosophy, benefits, operation and role of Creative Minds in developing more recovery-focused services. Case studies by people who have been involved in Creative Minds are included. Findings– Creative Minds has been successful in forming partnerships between the Trust and community/voluntary organisations that afford opportunities to explore different activities and discover their passions and talents. It provides an opportunity for service users and practitioners to engage as equals for mutual benefit. Originality/value– This original, award winning initiative enables the Trust to work closely with a range of community organisations thus enhancing and extending the service offered and enabling people to gage in meaningful activities and become a part of their local community.
Our recovery journey: two stories of change within Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation TrustSkipper, Lyn; Page, Kirsty
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-12-2014-0040
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to describe Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust's journey of developing more recovery-focused services from two perspectives: that of the Trust project lead for recovery and that of a Recovery College Student and Peer Support Worker. Design/methodology/approach– First person, narrative account from the Trust project lead for recovery and that of a Recovery College Student and Peer Support Worker. Findings– Reflective account describing process and progress made towards establishing a Recovery College and Peer Support Worker Posts in Clinical Teams. Originality/value– An original viewpoint on the process of developing more recovery-focused services.
Schizophrenia, psychiatry and East African Muslim families in the United Kingdom: a pilot studyAlly, Farida; Brennan, Toni
2015 Mental Health and Social Inclusion
doi: 10.1108/MHSI-10-2014-0035
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of East African Muslim families who have a family member diagnosed with schizophrenia in the UK mental health system. Design/methodology/approach– In-depth semi-structured interviews with East African Muslim participants who had a close family member diagnosed with schizophrenia. Findings– Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed participants’ concerns over diagnosis, over the side effects of medication and over the lack of choice of treatment. They reported disappointment and frustration with the rejection by psychiatric services of alternative conceptualizations of mental distress incorporating religious beliefs. Participants called for more culturally sensitive service provision open to taking into account non-western conceptualizations of mental distress and its treatment. Research limitations/implications– Caution should be exercised in drawing firm conclusions from a pilot study with only four participants although generalization is not an aim of small-scale qualitative research. Practical implications– The overall negative perceptions of psychiatric services in the participants’ accounts point to poor communication between services and service users and their families. If there are attempts at culturally sensitive service provision, according to this study, they are implemented elsewhere/not extensive enough/not reaching everyone – which warrants further investigation. Originality/value– This study is valuable because it offers insights on how East African Muslim families living in the UK (an under-researched minority) experience the impact of living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and contact with mental health services, within the context of a “Western” model of mental distress dramatically different from and rarely open to the conceptualization shared in their culture of origin.