Tablet Treatment for Children

Tablet computers are being provided for Children’s Mental Health Services. Care and Support Manager, Norman Lamb, announced this move towards improving early and effective intervention for children and young people suffering from mental health problems. It is thought that using this technology to track their progress will appeal to children and will also help therapists monitor and adjust the treatment given. This use of technology fits well with the the government's mandate to the NHS published in November 2012, which set out the ambitions for the health service over two years, with a clear objective to put mental health on a level with physical health and to extend and ensure more open access to the ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme’, in particular for children and young people and for those out of work.
Other moves to help children in mental distress include the campaign launched by four youth charities, Young Minds, ChildLine, YouthNet and Selfharm.co.uk who have joined together to promote awareness of self-harm. The number of young people who self-harm as a result of depression, loneliness and family problems is estimated to be about 1 in 12 and is a major concern for children as young as 13. Support available at a young age, early in the development of mental health problems, could reduce the number of children taking their problems through to their adult lives.

Home, sweet home

The September issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health includes some articles on the relationship between housing and ill-health.  One study considers the effect of cumulative exposure to housing affordability stress and its association with poorer mental health, while another looks at the impact of housing improvement on common childhood illnesses amongst Indigenous Australian communities.  A new report from the UK Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) assesses routes for preventing homelessness.  Making Every Contact Count sets out nine "local challenges," including limiting use of bed and breakfast accomodation (especially for young people and families), adopting a No Second Night Out model and offering a housing options prevention service.  Supporting this strategy there is an evidence review on the cost of homelessness;  DCLG has also released current statistics on homelessness prevention and relief.

Born in Bradford

Mining data from the Born in Bradford cohort study, a team from the University of Leeds assesses how the association between maternal mental health and infant growth differs between ethnic groups. A study of women in the north west of England considers the effects of prenatal depression on infant outcomes amongst British Pakistani women. Another output from Born in Bradford tests the diagnostic accuracy of case-finding questions to identify perinatal depression. Finally, a team from the University of York's Mother and Infant Research Unit uses qualitative data to tailor public health messages about breastfeeding to meet the needs of British Bangladeshi women.

Left out

Social exclusion has long been considered an issue for people with mental illness. A study in Social Inclusion and Mental Health offers a survey of current evidence, based on the findings of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Scoping Group on Social Exclusion and Mental Health. Another piece of research in the same journal looks at ways to address the impact of social exclusion on mental health in Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) communities.

Home sweet home

The Teenage Supported Housing Pilot, one of the nine Child Poverty pilots, involved seven local authorities in a project that provided assistance to teenage parents, focusing on 16 and 17 year olds or those not living with parents. In its final evaluation, the researchers for the Department for Education stressed the importance of flexible delivery and the role played by frontline staff. The Whitehall II study continues to offer further insights. One of the latest relates to the effect of housing on the mental health of older people. Researchers looked at data from the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) for the cohort, which was administered six times as part of the Whitehall II study of British civil servants from 1989-2005. This study supports the view that it is housing quality and financial security, rather than home ownership, that impact on the mental health of older people. The Housing Learning And Improvement Network has published a series of briefing papers that consider the implications for the housing sector of the government's health and social care agenda.

Location, location, location

The importance of green space in urban environments has been much studied in recent years. A systematic review from a team at the University of Sheffield assesses the evidence for health benefits of green space. They find that while most studies find in favour of green space, causal relationships are more elusive. Another environmental truism, that the countryside is a healthier place to live, is challenged by a study on mortality differences from the Public Health Observatory Wales. Another study from Durham University finds that living in rural areas is associated with better overall mental health, although notes that in rural areas there deeper divisions between those who are in the workforce and those who are not.

Migrant health

Local Government Improvement and Development has issued guidance on how to include migrants in Joint Strategic Needs Assessments. More good practice emerges from a survey of healthcare professionals who work with migrants in 16 European countries. A qualitiative study from the Netherlands looks at negative health care experiences amongst immigrants using hospital services. Being an immigrant in a high-income country is a serious risk factor for mental health problems, a team from Sweden has confirmed, adding that refugee status for women increases that risk.

Personality disorder

It is estimated that,while up to 11% of the general population is affected by pesonality disorder, the prevelance amongst prisoners is something like 60 - 70%. A guide to working with personality disordered offenders from the National Offender Management Service has just been issued, designed to assist offender managers and others such as mental health nurses working in secure accomodation and the community.

Green thoughts

The latest issue of Health and Place include a review of qualitative research on physical activity in urban parks. As its authors suggest, this kind of data has been excluded from recent analysis, but may help to inform design or evaluation of interventions to increase physical exercise in an urban setting. Earlier this month, a team from the University of Essex published a meta-analysis of green exercise studies from the UK, looking for "the Best Dose of Nature and Green Exercise for Improving Mental Health." The study was widely reported in the press and is thus itself the subject of appraisal on the NHS Choices Behind the Headlines column.