‘What is psychiatry?’ – an exploration of the effect of a psychiatry summer school on school students’ attitudes towards psychiatry, through the medium of word clouds

AimsTo explore if attending a psychiatry summer school would change the understanding of school students as to what the word ‘Psychiatry’ represents.BackgroundThe Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) and the local mental health trust, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) ran a free five-day summer school for 16-year-old school students, who had just completed their GCSE exams, from state and private secondary schools within South-East London.MethodWe asked all 26 student attendees to anonymously write down as many single words relating to ‘Psychiatry’ as they could think of. They were given approximately 5 minutes to complete this and they were asked to do this at the beginning of the first day and at the end of the final day of the summer school. These words were then transcribed with the number of times each word was submitted being documented. This information was then formatted into a word cloud, with the size of the word varying according to how many times it had been submitted.ResultAt the start of the summer school, the students submitted a total of 208 words which included a total of 94 distinct words. Of these, the 2 most common were brain (n = 15) and mental (n = 10). At the end of the summer school, the students submitted a total of 199 words which included a total of 100 distinct words. The 2 most common were psychosis (n = 12) and forensic (n = 8). Of the words submitted pre-summer school, there were 8 distinct words that described positive attributes of psychiatry – such as ‘helping’. This increased to 17 distinct positive words post-summer school.ConclusionWe note from our outcomes that the number of words submitted by the students pre and post the summer school were similar but the words submitted most frequently differed. The most common words submitted post the summer school were more consistent with medical terminology than those submitted pre the summer school, which suggests that their knowledge of this had increased. The increase in the number of distinct positive words submitted at the end of the summer school implies that the students had a more positive view of psychiatry following the summer school.

Pharmacists’ experiences with the Bloom Program application process

Background: The Bloom Program, which began as a demonstration project, is an ongoing community pharmacy–based mental illness and addictions program funded by the government of Nova Scotia. To be eligible to offer the Bloom Program, interested pharmacists were required to complete a 9-part application on behalf of their pharmacies. A process evaluation was conducted to inform future program implementation changes of program components, including the application process. Methods: Qualitative interviews from 24 pharmacists were inductively analyzed to determine the challenges and opportunities in the program’s application process. Results: Key and impactful components of the application process included training, providing a mental health and addictions resource centre within the pharmacy and completing outreach activities with local mental health and addictions services and support organizations. The training content and format for the program was highly valued. Community outreach to local mental health and addictions resources, and other health care resources in the community, was particularly valuable in supporting patient navigation of the health care system and extending the pharmacists’ networks. Components of the application process were challenging for many pharmacists but were beneficial personally and professionally. Dedicated resources (e.g., time and staffing) are required for the efficient completion of the application process. Conclusion: Pharmacists viewed the Bloom Program application process as intensive yet necessary and relevant for preparing to deliver the Program. The demonstration project process evaluation was essential for elucidating the strengths of the application process and, importantly, identifying areas for improvement. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2021;154:xx-xx.

Young Adults in Nature-Based Services in Norway—In-Group and Between-Group Variations Related to Mental Health Problems

Young adults with mental health problems who do not attend school or work constitute a significant welfare challenge in Norway. The welfare services available to these individuals include nature-based services, which are primarily located on farms and integrate the natural and agricultural environment into their daily activities. The aim of this study is to examine young adults (16–30 years old) not attending school or work who participated in nature-based services in Norway. In particular, the study analyses mental health problems among the participants and in-group variations regarding their symptoms of mental health problems using the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-10). This paper compares symptoms of mental health problems among participants in nature-based services with those of a sample from the general population and a sample of those receiving clinical in-patient mental healthcare. A questionnaire was developed for the study and was completed by 93 participants in nature-based services. The majority of these participants were recruited from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), local mental health services, and school authorities. Results indicate that just more than half of the respondents exhibited symptoms of mental health problems based on their HSCL-10 scores. In general, they reported fewer symptoms than the clinical in-patient sample (18–30 years old) and more symptoms than the general population sample (18–19 years old). Among the participants in nature-based services, those recruited through NAV and local mental health services exhibited no differences in symptoms. Half of the participants older than 23 years in nature-based services had not completed upper secondary school. The participants, including those with symptoms of mental health problems and low expectations at the outset of their participation, generally expressed high satisfaction with the services.

Standard comparison of local mental health care systems in eight European countries

Aims.There is a need of more quantitative standardised data to compare local Mental Health Systems (MHSs) across international jurisdictions. Problems related to terminological variability and commensurability in the evaluation of services hamper like-with-like comparisons and hinder the development of work in this area. This study was aimed to provide standard assessment and comparison of MHS in selected local areas in Europe, contributing to a better understanding of MHS and related allocation of resources at local level and to lessen the scarcity in standard service comparison in Europe. This study is part of the Seventh Framework programme REFINEMENT (Research on Financing Systems’ Effect on the Quality of Mental Health Care in Europe) project.Methods.A total of eight study areas from European countries with different systems of care (Austria, England, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Romania, Spain) were analysed using a standard open-access classification system (Description and Evaluation of Services for Long Term Care in Europe, DESDE-LTC). All publicly funded services universally accessible to adults (≥18 years) with a psychiatric disorder were coded. Care availability, diversity and capacity were compared across these eight local MHS.Results.The comparison of MHS revealed more community-oriented delivery systems in the areas of England (Hampshire) and Southern European countries (Verona – Italy and Girona – Spain). Community-oriented systems with a higher proportion of hospital care were identified in Austria (Industrieviertel) and Scandinavian countries (Sør-Trøndelag in Norway and Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland), while Loiret (France) was considered as a predominantly hospital-based system. The MHS in Suceava (Romania) was still in transition to community care.Conclusions.There is a significant variation in care availability and capacity across MHS of local areas in Europe. This information is relevant for understanding the process of implementation of community-oriented mental health care in local areas. Standard comparison of care provision in local areas is important for context analysis and policy planning.