Involvement of informal carers in discharge planning and transition between hospital and community mental health care: A systematic review.

What Is Known On The Subject: Family members and friends (informal carers) are very important for providing support to people with mental health difficulties. When these carers are included to care planning patients seem to benefit, as they are less likely to relapse.

What The Paper Adds To Existing Knowledge: There are three types of interventions including carers in the patients'transition 1) programmes that offer education in hospital; 2) programmes that involve carers in planning the patients discharge; and 3) programmes that involve carers in hospital care, discharge planning and also follow-up in the community.

Defining what a 'carer' is and the role they play in in-patient mental healthcare: A focus group study with patients, carers and clinicians.

Background: The value of carer involvement has been extensively researched and promoted. However, the field lacks exploration of conceptual issues, which might help to explain why there are widespread difficulties in putting policy into practice in this area, as implementation rates remain low internationally.

Aims: This qualitative study explored patients', carers' and clinicians' perspectives on the role of carers in mental healthcare, particularly with regards to in-patient settings.

"It's a matter of building bridges…" - feasibility of a carer involvement intervention for inpatients with severe mental illness.

Background: Family and friends (carer) involvement in the treatment of people with mental illness is widely recommended. However, the implementation remains poor, especially during hospital treatment, where carers report being excluded from care decisions.

Methods: We developed structured clinical procedures to maximise carer involvement in inpatient treatment.

Psychosis or spiritual emergency? A Foucauldian discourse analysis of case reports of extreme mental states in the context of meditation.

Meditation is becoming increasingly popular in the West and research on its effects is growing. While studies point to various benefits of meditation on mental and physical health, reports of extreme mental states in the context of meditation have also been published. This study employed Foucauldian discourse analysis to examine how the experience of extreme mental states has been constructed in case reports and what kind of practices were employed to address them.

Internet Use for Social Interaction by People with Psychosis: A Systematic Review.

People with psychosis (PWP) have difficulties in establishing and maintaining social connections. An earlier systematic review on the use of online social networking (OSN) in psychosis found only 11 studies published before January 2014, but with promising findings. These studies showed no difference in OSN use between PWP and general population.

What might affect acceptability of online positive psychology interventions for depression: a qualitative study on patient expectations'.

Background: Positive psychology interventions are brief self-adminstered exercises designed to promote positive emotions, behaviours, or thoughts. They are potentially effective for reducing depression and are considered suitable for online dissemination to people with depression and related conditions, as they are assumed to be more acceptable than traditional symptom-focused approaches. However, there is little investigation into perceived acceptability and potential factors that might affect it.

How to make carer involvement in mental health inpatient units happen: a focus group study with patients, carers and clinicians.

Background: Carers are family members or friends who support people with a mental health problem without being paid. Carer involvement in mental health treatment has been consistently supported by research evidence and promoted by policies but its implementation rates are poor. Particularly when patients are treated in inpatient units, carers often report being left without information or being excluded from decisions about treatment.

Psychosis seminars: an open forum for service users, carers and professionals.

Background: Psychosis seminars enable service users, their carers and mental health professionals to meet outside of a formal care setting, increase understanding of mental illness and help establish a dialogue.

Aims: To explore feasibility of psychosis seminars in the UK and the experiences of participants.

Method: Seven meetings attended by 25 people were held over a 3-month period.