Preparedness and training needs of a regional public mental health service to support people with intellectual disability.

Objective: To explore the preparedness and training needs of a regional public mental health workforce to support people with intellectual disability and mental ill health.

Setting And Participants: Staff from a regional public mental health service in Victoria, Australia.

Design: A mixed-methods design comprised a survey, interviews and a focus group to collect data about staff attitudes, confidence, education and professional development regarding supporting people with intellectual disability and mental ill health.

Everyday comforting practices in psychiatric hospital environments: A design anthropology approach.

What Is Known On The Subject: Comfort as a conceptual and lived experience is essential in psychiatric hospital contexts and for overall mental health wellbeing. Comfort is a valuable aspect when designing hospitals and built environments for psychiatric care.

What The Paper Adds To Existing Knowledge: This article presents the results from a Design Anthropology study at four Psychiatric Units co-located in a newly built regional hospital based on 126 ethnographic interviews with staff, within which 63 participants mentioned the importance of comfort in generating environments conducive to wellbeing.