The unheard voice of the clinician: Perspectives on the key features of an adolescent inpatient model of care.

Problem: Little has been reported from clinicians about the operations, interventions, and outcomes of inpatient units and how these comprise models of care in such units. The aim of this study was to explore an inpatient model of care in operation at the study site by defining key features of the model from the perspectives of clinicians.

Methods: Semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted with ten clinicians working in a private inpatient unit in Melbourne, Australia.

The association of time since spousal loss and depression in widowhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the association of the prevalence of depression and time since spousal loss in widowed people.

Methods: The databases MEDLINE, Embase and PsycInfo were searched (May 2017) for papers reporting on time since spousal loss in widowed people and the prevalence of common mental disorders. A systematic review was conducted according to MOOSE guidelines.

'They can't empower us': The role of allies in the consumer movement.

Goals of the mental health consumer movement include redressing inequality and increasing consumer leadership across the mental health sector. A means of achieving these goals is empowerment of consumers at systemic levels of the mental health sector. There have been calls for research to focus on allies - those who use their power to support and advocate for the goals of the consumer movement.

Protocol for a prospective, longitudinal mixed-methods case study: supporting a Model of Care for Healthier Adolescents (The MoCHA study).

Introduction: Improving mental healthcare for adolescents is a global policy priority. Despite demands for community-based services, many adolescents require more intensive interventions, such as an inpatient admission. This is typically at a point of crisis, often accompanied by intense emotional dysregulation, impairment of coping function and impulsivity.

What nonpharmacological therapeutic interventions are provided to adolescents admitted to general mental health inpatient units? A descriptive review.

Limited research exists regarding the therapeutic operations of adolescent mental health inpatient units, particularly in terms of nonpharmacological therapeutic interventions. This review collates what is known about reported nonpharmacological therapeutic interventions for young people admitted to general or non-disorder-specific adolescent mental health inpatient settings. A descriptive review of this nature was not located in the literature.

Understanding the Role of Allies in Systemic Consumer Empowerment: A Literature Review.

Contemporary mental health policies call for the inclusion of consumers in the development, implementation and evaluation of mental health services. Barriers to systemic consumer engagement have been related to unequal distributions of power. One of the goals of the consumer movement is to address imbalances of power, resources and knowledge.

Prevalence of common mental disorders in widowhood: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Widowed people have a high risk of common mental disorders, however no summary estimates of the prevalences exist. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of common mental disorders in widowed people in the community.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase and PsycInfo were searched for papers reporting on prevalence of common mental disorders and widowhood.

Consumer recommendations for enhancing the Safewards model and interventions.

This paper critiques the Safewards model through the lens of lived experiences of psychiatric hospitalization, diagnosis of mental illness, and distress. Special focus is given to the model's tested 10 interventions and to five lesser known interventions, identifying the impact they can have on hospitalized consumers. We highlight the role and prevalence of trauma, as well as the need to prevent harm in hospital settings.

Working towards least restrictive environments in acute mental health wards in the context of locked door policy and practice.

There has been a shift towards provision of mental health care in community-based settings in Australia. However, hospitals continue to care for people in acute mental health wards. An increasing proportion of the people in wards are admitted involuntarily, subject to restrictions of movement to minimize risk of harm to self and others.

Mental Health Researchers' Views About Service User Research: A Literature Review.

Services users are becoming actively involved in mental health research. How this is perceived by other researchers is not well known. The aim of this article is to review the international literature exploring other mental health researchers' views of service users conducting research, between 1996 and 2016.

"I don't think we've quite got there yet": The experience of allyship for mental health consumer researchers.

What Is Known Of The Subject: Consumer participation in mental health services is an expectation articulated through mental health policy. Consumers as researchers could contribute significantly to mental health services. Barriers to participation are significant and limit consumer involvement.

Turning the Tables: Power Relations Between Consumer Researchers and Other Mental Health Researchers.

A crucial development resulting from consumer involvement in mental health services has been engagement as active participants in mental health research, often conducted in collaboration with mental health researchers representing the health disciplines (referred to in this paper as 'other' researchers). Despite progress in mental health consumer research, unequal power relations continue to pose a major barrier. Although power issues are discussed in the literature, there is little research from the perspective of other mental health researchers who have collaborated with consumers on research projects.

"Chipping away": non-consumer researcher perspectives on barriers to collaborating with consumers in mental health research.

Background: Collaboration between researchers who have lived experience of mental illness and services (consumer researchers) and mental health researchers without (other mental health researchers) is an emergent development in research. Inclusion of consumer perspectives is crucial to ensuring the ethics, relevancy and validity of mental health research; yet widespread and embedded consumer collaboration of this nature is known to be impeded by attitudinal and organisational factors. Limited research describes consumer researchers' experiences of barriers.

Older adults' perspectives on the process of becoming users of assistive technology: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis.

Purpose: To identify, synthesize, and evaluate existing literature concerning the process of becoming a user of assistive technology (AT).

Method: A systematic review and meta-synthesis were carried out. Five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO and SocINDEX) were systematically searched up to 13 of March 2017, using two sets of search terms: (i) elderly and synonyms and (ii) assistive technology and similar words, and combined with a qualitative research filter.

How did I not see that? Perspectives of nonconsumer mental health researchers on the benefits of collaborative research with consumers.

Coproduction of research between consumers of mental health services and nonconsumer mental health researchers is increasing. There is some research available describing consumer perspectives of this experience. However, there is a notable lack of research on other (nonconsumer) researcher experiences of and views about consumer involvement in coproduced research.

The stigma of identifying as having a lived experience runs before me: challenges for lived experience roles.

Background: Lived experience practitioners can contribute to improved outcomes for people with mental illness, supplementing traditional mental health services and reducing health care costs. However, lived experience practitioners frequently face stigma and discrimination within their work roles.

Aim: To understand the impact of stigma and discrimination on the effectiveness of lived experience roles from the perspective of lived experience practitioners.

Predictors for clinical deterioration of mental state in patients assessed by telephone-based mental health triage.

Patient safety research focussing on recognizing and responding to clinical deterioration is gaining momentum in generalist health, but has received little attention in mental health settings. The focus on early identification and prompt intervention for clinical deterioration enshrined in patient safety research is equally relevant to mental health, especially in triage and crisis care contexts, yet the knowledge gap in this area is substantial. The present study was a controlled cohort study (n = 817) that aimed to identify patient and service characteristics associated with clinical deterioration of mental state indicated by unplanned admission to an inpatient psychiatric unit following assessment by telephone-based mental health triage.

An exploratory investigation of sexual health screening in the first 12 weeks of case management in populations with severe mental illness.

The sexual health of people with mental illness is commonly overlooked, neglected or inadequately addressed in mental health care, despite evidence showing that people with severe mental illness are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), sexual side-effects, and sexual dysfunction than the general population. This article reports a study that investigated sexual health screening in five community mental health clinics within a large a regional health service in Victoria, Australia. The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which sexual health screening is currently undertaken on newly admitted case-managed consumers, and to identify the types of screening undertaken.

Attitudes towards seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: findings from a large, community-based survey of consumers, carers and mental health professionals.

Aims: There are growing calls to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings, but the attitudes and beliefs of consumers, carers and mental health professionals towards these practices are not well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the attitudes of mental health service consumers, carers and mental health professionals towards seclusion and restraint in mental health settings. In particular, it aimed to explore beliefs regarding whether elimination of seclusion and restraint was desirable and possible.

Workplace Violence in Mental Health: A Victorian Mental Health Workforce Survey.

The international literature suggests workplace violence in mental health settings is a significant issue, yet little is known about the frequency, nature, severity and health consequences of staff exposure to violence in Australian mental health services. To address this gap, we examined these aspects of workplace violence as reported by mental health services employees in Victoria, Australia. The project used a cross-sectional, exploratory descriptive design.

Development and interrater reliability of the UK Mental Health Triage Scale.

Mental health triage scales are clinical tools used at point of entry to specialist mental health service to provide a systematic way of categorizing the urgency of clinical presentations, and determining an appropriate service response and an optimal timeframe for intervention. The aim of the present study was to test the interrater reliability of a mental health triage scale developed for use in UK mental health triage and crisis services. An interrater reliability study was undertaken.

Consumers' and their supporters' perspectives on barriers and strategies to reducing seclusion and restraint in mental health settings.

Objective This paper examines the perspectives of consumers and their supporters regarding the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings. Methods Five focus groups for consumers and five focus groups for supporters were conducted in four Australian cities and in one rural location. The 66 participants were asked about strategies to reduce or eliminate the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings.

Erratum to: Consumers and their supporters' perspectives on poor practice and the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: results from Australian focus groups.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13033-016-0038-x.].

Consumers and Carer perspectives on poor practice and the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: results from Australian focus groups.

Background: Seclusion and restraint are interventions currently permitted for use in mental health services to control or manage a person's behaviour. In Australia, serious concerns about the use of such seclusion and restraint have been raised at least since 1993. Consumers and their supporters have also expressed strong views about the harm of these practices.