The social and community opportunities profile social inclusion measure: Structural equivalence and differential item functioning in community mental health residents in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

Introduction: China's future major health problem will be the management of chronic diseases - of which mental health is a major one. An instrument is needed to measure mental health inclusion outcomes for mental health services in Hong Kong and mainland China as they strive to promote a more inclusive society for their citizens and particular disadvantaged groups.

Aim: To report on the analysis of structural equivalence and item differentiation in two mentally unhealthy and one healthy sample in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Application of SCOPE-C to Measure Social Inclusion Among Mental Health Services Users in Hong Kong.

This study describes the construction of the Chinese version of the Social and Communities Opportunities Profile (SCOPE), henceforth, the SCOPE-C, to measure social inclusion among mental health services users in Hong Kong. The SCOPE-C was developed based on concept-mapping and benchmarking of census questions. The questionnaire consisted of 56 items, went through a standardized linguistic validation process and was pilot tested with qualitative feedback from five users of mental health services.

The social care component of multidisciplinary mental health teams: a review and national survey.

Background: The study reviewed the disciplinary composition of community mental health teams (CMHTs) and conducted a national survey of mental health providers in England and Wales to explore the determinants of the social care component of CMHTs.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review and a national survey of NHS mental health Trusts in England and Wales.

Results: The literature review showed that team composition was rarely well justified with regard to effectiveness, despite some evidence that greater professional diversity (i.

Developing world class commissioning competencies in care services in England: the role of the service improvement agency.

This article provides an insight into the support needs of health and social care commissioners seeking to develop world class commissioning competencies and the role of service improvement agencies in meeting these needs. Reporting findings from the evaluation of one service improvement agency based in England, we focus on the 'improvement supports' (the products and services) that were delivered by the 'Care Services Improvement Partnership' through its 'Better Commissioning Programme'. In-depth interviews were carried out with 25 care commissioners (n = 25) exploring how the Programme was used in their day to day work, its perceived value and limitations.

Factors associated with the recruitment and retention of social workers in Wales: employer and employee perspectives.

Despite acute staffing shortages in social work, workforce planning within the UK social care sector is compromised by poor workforce intelligence. This study aimed to inform the evidence base providing new data on recruitment and retention in Wales, examining what personal and organizational characteristics are associated with intentions to leave, and what initiatives or incentives might mediate that effect. A multi-method design facilitated comparisons between two data sources--a census of all 22 Welsh local authority employers about recruitment and retention practices and a survey of all social workers and senior practitioners employed in social services (n = 998; response rate 45.

More than jobs and houses: mental health, quality of life and the perceptions of locality in an area undergoing urban regeneration.

Background: Urban regeneration initiatives are considered to be one means of making a contribution to improving people's quality of life and mental health. This paper considers the relationship between lay perceptions of locality adversity, mental health and social capital in an area undergoing urban regeneration.

Methods: Using qualitative methods as part of a larger multi-method study, perceptions of material, and non-material aspects of the locality and the way in which people vulnerable to mental health problems coped with living in adversity were identified as being more highly valued than intended or actual changes to structural elements such as the provision of housing or employment.

Organisation and features of hospital, intermediate care and social services in English sites with low rates of delayed discharge.

In recent years, there has been significant concern, and policy activity, in relation to the problem of delayed discharges from hospital. Key elements of policy to tackle delays include new investment, the establishment of the Health and Social Care Change Agent Team, and the implementation of the Community Care (Delayed Discharge) Act 2003. Whilst the problem of delays has been widespread, some authorities have managed to tackle delays successfully.

Developing wider workforce regulation in England: lessons from education, social work and social care.

This paper draws on the findings of a review of regulation of professionally qualified teachers, social workers and other staff in social care. It charts the process of developing and implementing both professional and wider workforce regulation in England, focusing on the implications for generic and integrated working and the development of cross-professional procedures for the protection of vulnerable adults and children from abuse. There are many uncertainties about how best to develop workforce regulation especially when integrated working is a policy goal.

The impact of mental illness on quality of life: A comparison of severe mental illness, common mental disorder and healthy population samples.

Patient-centred outcomes such as quality of life (QOL) are valued and used extensively in mental healthcare evaluations, but concerns remain about their practical application due to perceived measurement issues, including responsiveness and relationships with objective indicators and depression. Evidence from general population studies challenge some assumptions, suggesting that measurement difficulties might relate to the characteristics of mental health samples, rather than measurement itself. This paper assesses the impact of mental illness on QOL and its measurement, examining whether the life-conditions, opportunities and QOL of different mental health-status groups vary, and if explanatory models of domain-specific and global QOL differ.

Mental health, burnout and job satisfaction among mental health social workers in England and Wales.

Background: Previous research suggests that social workers experience high levels of stress and burnout but most remain committed to their work.

Aims: To examine the prevalence of stress and burnout, and job satisfaction among mental health social workers (MHSWs) and the factors responsible for this.

Method: A postal survey incorporating the General Health Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Karasek Job Content Questionnaire and a job satisfaction measure was sent to 610 MHSWs in England and Wales.

Staff shortages in the mental health workforce: the case of the disappearing approved social worker.

Approved social worker (ASW) numbers in England and Wales were compared on the basis of two national surveys conducted in 1992 and 2002. These data were supplemented by reports published by the Employers' Organisation in the intervening years. Although raw numbers suggested a modest absolute increase over this time, rates of ASW's per 100,000 population declined by over 50%.

Adaptation, response-shift and quality of life ratings in mentally well and unwell groups.

In this paper, a novel decomposition of adaptation, focusing on aspirations and resignation, is presented. Adaptation, response-shift and quality of life were assessed over 2 years, using the same methodology in three different health-status groups: severe mental illness (n = 149); common mental disorder (n = 354); and no disorder (n = 583). Adaptation effects occurred in all life domains including health, but in only one third of each sample.

Assessment of quality of life in later life: development and validation of the QuiLL.

The aim was to develop a quality of life (QOL) instrument, informed by older people, carers and professionals in older peoples' services, for use by community care staff as part of their assessment, care-planning and outcome monitoring procedures. The multi-phase development project involved: qualitative interviews to generate the item pool; pre-testing; preliminary field-testing; and final testing in a community survey and in health and social care settings. The process was informed by over 100 interviews with older people, carers, professionals, academics and policy-makers.

Housing improvement and self-reported mental distress among council estate residents.

This paper is concerned with how housing improvements instigated either publicly or privately influence the degree of psychological stress reported by council estate residents in South Manchester. Stress is measured on the GHQ12 scale containing standard symptomatic items. Potential sources of variation in this indicator are analysed within a geographical setting where repeated samples of residents were drawn from two adjacent suburban council housing estates before and after the implementation of a single regeneration budget (SRB) housing initiative in late 1999.

The impact of 'statutory duties' on mental health social workers in the UK.

In the UK, applications for involuntary admission to psychiatric units are made mainly by specially trained approved social workers (ASWs). Proposed changes in the legislation will permit other professionals to undertake these statutory duties. This study aimed to examine how ASW status impacts upon work pattern and workload stresses by comparing ASWs with other mental health social workers who did not carry statutory responsibilities.

Urban regeneration and mental health.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an urban regeneration project on mental health.

Method: A longitudinal study was made with 22-month follow-up in a Single Regeneration Budget area, and matched control area in South Manchester. A total of 1344 subjects responded to a postal questionnaire survey.

Quality of life routine outcomes measurement: lessons from experience in the USA and the UK.

This paper is concerned with issues in the routine measurement of quality of life in a mental health context. It is in three parts. In the first part the first author reviews briefly, lessons from a decade of experience in the use of data produced by routine measurement using the Colorado Client Assessment Record (CCAR) in the Mental Health Centre of Boulder County (MHCBC) in Colorado, USA.

State-event relations among indicators of susceptibility to mental distress in Wythenshawe in the UK.

This paper explores the utility of concepts drawn from psychosocial theory as predictors of the proneness to mental distress among the residential population of a large suburban council estate (Wythenshawe, South Manchester). In this respect, items are selected and tested to form composite variables measuring individual ratings with regard to notions of structural risk, personal vulnerability, goal-setting behaviour, quality of life, and the frequency of life events and restricted opportunities. Mental distress is enumerated on the standard GHQ12-point scale.