Articulating current service development practices: a qualitative analysis of eleven mental health projects.

BACKGROUND: The utilisation of good design practices in the development of complex health services is essential to improving quality. Healthcare organisations, however, are often seriously out of step with modern design thinking and practice. As a starting point to encourage the uptake of good design practices, it is important to understand the context of their intended use. This study aims to do that by articulating current health service development practices. METHODS: Eleven service development projects carried out in a large mental health service were investigated through in-depth interviews with six operation managers. The critical decision method in conjunction with diagrammatic elicitation was used to capture descriptions of these projects. Stage-gate design models were then formed to visually articulate, classify and characterise different service development practices. RESULTS: Projects were grouped into three categories according to design process patterns: new service introduction and service integration; service improvement; service closure. Three common design stages: problem exploration, idea generation and solution evaluation - were then compared across the design process patterns. Consistent across projects were a top-down, policy-driven approach to exploration, underexploited idea generation and implementation-based evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into where and how good design practices can contribute to the improvement of current service development practices. Specifically, the following suggestions for future service development practices are made: genuine user needs analysis for exploration; divergent thinking and innovative culture for idea generation; and fail-safe evaluation prior to implementation. Better training for managers through partnership working with design experts and researchers could be beneficial.

mHealth and global mental health: still waiting for the mH2 wedding?

BACKGROUND: Two phenomena have become increasingly visible over the past decade: the significant global burden of disease arising from mental illness and the rapid acceleration of mobile phone usage in poorer countries. Mental ill-health accounts for a significant proportion of global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years lived with disability (YLDs), especially in poorer countries where a number of factors combine to exacerbate issues of undertreatment. Yet poorer countries have also witnessed significant investments in, and dramatic expansions of, mobile coverage and usage over the past decade. DEBATE: The conjunction of high levels of mental illness and high levels of mobile phone usage in poorer countries highlights the potential for "mH(2)" interventions--i.e. mHealth (mobile technology-based) mental health interventions--to tackle global mental health challenges. However, global mental health movements and initiatives have yet to engage fully with this potential, partly because of scepticism towards technological solutions in general and partly because existing mH(2) projects in mental health have often taken place in a fragmented, narrowly-focused, and small-scale manner. We argue for a deeper and more sustained engagement with mobile phone technology in the global mental health context, and outline the possible shape of an integrated mH(2) platform for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of mental health. SUMMARY: Existing and developing mH(2) technologies represent an underutilised resource in global mental health. If development, evaluation, and implementation challenges are overcome, an integrated mH2 platform would make significant contributions to mental healthcare in multiple settings and contexts.

Margulis' theory on division of labour in cells revisited

Division of labour is a marked feature of multicellular organisms. Margulis proposed that the ancestors of metazoans had only one microtubule organizing center (MTOC), so they could not move and divide simultaneously. Selection for simultaneous movement and cell division had driven the division of labour between cells. However, no evidence or explanation for this assumption was provided. Why could the unicellular ancetors not have multiple MTOCs? The gain and loss of three possible strategies are discussed. It was found that the advantage of one or two MTOC per cell is environment-dependent. Unicellular organisms with only one MTOC per cell are favored only in resource-limited environments without strong predatory pressure. If division of labour occurring in a bicellular organism just makes simultaneous movement and cell division possible, the possibility of its fixation by natural selection is very low because a somatic cell performing the function of an MTOC is obviously wasting resources. Evolutionary biologists should search for other selective forces for division of labour in cells.

Lessons learned in an information skills training programme for a mental health Trust

Parker, R. & Urquhart, C. (2007). Lessons learned in an information skills training programme for a mental health Trust. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24(1), 58-61.

Ethics and Foreign Policy: The Antinomies of New Labour's 'Third Way' in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abrahamsen, Rita, Williams, Paul, 'Ethics and Foreign Policy: The Antinomies of New Labour's 'Third Way' in Sub-Saharan Africa', Political Studies (2002) 49(2) pp.249-264 RAE2008

Labour and the Bomb: The First Eighty Years

Scott, L. (2006). Labour and the Bomb: The First Eighty Years. International Affairs. 82(4), pp.685-700 RAE2008

'We are not Seeking Strength for its Own Sake': The British Labour Party, West Germany and the Cold War, 1951-64

Hughes, R. (2002). 'We are not Seeking Strength for its Own Sake': The British Labour Party, West Germany and the Cold War, 1951-64. Cold War History. 3(1) pp.67-94 RAE2008

Typically Anti-American? The Labour movement, America and Broadcasting in Britain from Beveridge to Pilkington, 1949-62

O'Malley, T. (2007). Typically Anti-American?: The Labour movement, America and Broadcasting in Britain from Beveridge to Pilkington, 1949-62. In J. Wiener and M. Hampton (Eds.), Anglo- American Media Interactions,1850-2000 (pp.234-253). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. RAE2008

Troublesome Amateurs: Theatre, ethics and the labour of mimesis

Kear, A. 'Troublesome Amateurs: Theatre, ethics and the labour of mimesis', Performance Research (2005) 10 (1), 26-46 RAE2008

Re-focusing risk assessment in forensic mental health nursing.

Editorial in the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2015, 22(7)

Prestaciones ocupacionales/laborales para personas con enfermedad mental. Estudio comparativo por CCAA

El estigma y la discriminación que sufren las personas con enfermedad mental y discapacidad dan como resultado dificultades de incorporación socio-laboral, situaciones de vulnerabilidad y exclusión social. En este documento se recogen, visualizan y comparan las diferentes prestaciones del ámbito ocupacional y laboral destinadas a las personas con enfermedad mental y discapacidad derivada de ésta de las siguientes Comunidades Autónomas uniprovinciales de España: Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia y Navarra. A través del mismo, se puede conocer la situación laboral de las personas con enfermedad mental y discapacidad derivada de ésta y aclarar los tipos de Centros y programas específicos que hay para este colectivo en las diferentes Comunidades estudiadas. Se elaboran y aportan al trabajo tablas comparativas de síntesis de resultados para obtener una visión global de la situación estudiada.

Sinalização das dificuldades de aprendizagem e/ou deficiência mental em crianças da pré-escola e do 1º ciclo, através de dois instrumentos de Victória de la Cruz

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde.

Saúde Mental e Necessidades nos Cuidadores de Familiares com Demência

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Psicologia, especialização em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde.

Atitudes dos médicos dentistas no tratamento médico-dentário de pacientes com deficiência mental

Monografia apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em Medicina Dentária