Factors Influencing Staff Perceptions of Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitals: A Meta-Review of the Literature.

Staff perceptions of inpatient psychiatric hospitals ultimately impact a range of organisational and care-related variables, including staff retention and quality of care for inpatients. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-review to synthesise themes reported by staff to influence their perceptions of inpatient psychiatric hospitals. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines for systematic reviews.

The Living Well, Living Longer program: an integrated care strategy to improve the health of people living with severe mental illness.

Living Well, Living Longer (The Program) is an integrated care strategy to improve the physical health of people living with severe mental illness within a public mental health service. The significant life expectancy gap experienced by this cohort is largely attributed to higher rates of cardiovascular disease and modifiable risk factors. The Program addresses this by guiding people through the four stages of screening, detection, treatment initiation, and ongoing management of coexisting chronic health conditions.

'Profound personal and professional impacts': A qualitative study of clinician experiences of a mental health disaster response to Australia's black summer bushfires.

Objective: To explore the experiences of clinician and management stakeholders involved in a rural/metropolitan collaborative mental health disaster response to the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires in the Snowy Valleys region of southern New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Setting: A mental health and drug health service in the Snowy Valleys region of rural NSW in collaboration with a mental health service from metropolitan Sydney, NSW.

Participants: Mental health clinicians and managers from a rural health district (n = 6) and a metropolitan health district (n = 8) involved in a collaborative disaster response to the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire disaster in the Snowy Valleys region of southern NSW, Australia.

Mental Health Nurses' Perception of Overnight Observations on Mental Health Inpatient Units: A Qualitative Study.

Overnight observations of mental health inpatients have been criticised for interrupting inpatients' sleep and potentially undermining recovery. No studies have examined the perceptions of mental health nurses who complete overnight observations, limiting key information necessary to guide improvements. This study aims to understand mental health nurses' perceptions on overnight observations and views on practice re-evaluations, as well as assess whether nurses' perceptions align with inpatients as reported in previous research.

Measuring the utility of brief psychological intervention in psychiatric hospitals: A call for change.

Objective: Despite the known importance of regularly monitoring progress when delivering psychological interventions, this is not mandated or seemingly even common practice on Australian inpatient psychiatric wards. Barriers for why this might be the case are described, an argument made to rise above them, and a call for research in this area is made.

Conclusions: Failure to find ways to collect, analyse and be transparent with data around brief inpatient psychological interventions can diminish treatment outcomes and leaves us open to criticism as a profession.

Psychological interventions for pre-event and post-event rumination in social anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Pre-event and post-event rumination have been consistently identified by cognitive models as important maintaining factors in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of psychological treatment in reducing pre-event and post-event rumination in adults with social anxiety. A comprehensive literature search identified 26 eligible studies, with 1524 total participants.

Factors Associated with Psychotropic Medication Use in People Living with Dementia in the Community: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: There has been considerable focus on the use of psychotropic agents in people living with dementia in long-term care. However, psychotropic use often commences well before transitioning to long-term care.

Objectives: To synthesize the available literature to identify factors associated with psychotropic medication use in people living with dementia in the community.

Psychometric properties of the state Probability and Consequences Questionnaire for social anxiety disorder.

Cognitive models of social anxiety propose that overestimation of the probability and cost of negative evaluation plays a central role in maintaining the disorder. However, there are currently no self-report state-based measures of probability and cost appraisals. The current paper examines the psychometric properties of the Probability and Consequences Questionnaire for social anxiety (PCQ-SA), which measures probability and consequence appraisals both in anticipation of, and in response to, an impromptu speech task.

Health service use and predictors of high health service use among adults experiencing homelessness: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To describe the characteristics and cost of health service use of a cohort of 2,140 people attending homeless hostel clinics, and identify predictors of high health service use and time to readmission.

Method: A retrospective cohort study of 2,140 adults who attended a homeless hostel clinic and were hospitalised in New South Wales (NSW) using linked clinic, health and mortality data from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2021. Multivariable logistic regression examined predictors of high health service users.

Mental health nurses' resilience in the context of emotional labour: An interpretive qualitative study.

Strengthening mental health nurses' (MHNs) resilience may help mitigate the negative effects of the emotional labour (EL) of their work. There is no prior evidence on MHNs' experiences of resilience in the context of EL. This interpretive qualitative study sought to explore how MHNs build and maintain their resilience in the face of high levels of EL.

Effect of an Educational Video and Information Pamphlet on Knowledge and Attitudes About Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Randomized, Blind, Controlled Study.

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered an effective, yet underused and stigmatized form of psychiatric treatment. Public misconception can impact informed decision making, and therefore, it is important to educate the community with accurate and realistic representations of modern ECT. The aim of this study was to determine whether exposure to brief information packages developed in Australia leads to changes in attitudes and knowledge about ECT.

Using a mobile health device to monitor physiological stress for serious mental illness: A qualitative analysis of patient and clinician-related acceptability.

Objective: There is growing interest in using mobile health (mHealth) devices to monitor physiological stress associated with mental deterioration. Research is currently examining whether physiological information returned to individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and their clinicians enhances early intervention. The aim of this study was to explore patient and clinician-related acceptability of an mHealth device to monitor stress for SMI.

The role of canines in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review.

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a syndrome of prolonged stress reactions that can develop following a traumatic event. Treatment usually relies on both psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies. Recently, the use of dogs as adjunct intervention for a variety of psychiatric conditions has received widespread attention.

Navigating the Minefield: Managing Refusal of Medical Care in Older Adults with Chronic Symptoms of Mental Illness.

Purpose: The purpose of this case series is to illustrate the complexity of considerations across health (physical and mental), ethical, human rights and practical domains when an older adult with chronic symptoms of mental illness refuses treatment for a serious medical comorbidity. A broad understanding of these considerations may assist health care professionals in navigating this challenging but common aspect of clinical practice.

Case Presentation: Three detailed case reports are described.

Measuring state pre-event and post-event rumination in Social Anxiety Disorder: Psychometric properties of the Socially Anxious Rumination Questionnaire (SARQ).

Cognitive models have consistently recognised pre-event and post-event rumination as maintaining factors in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of a state-based measure of pre-event and post-event rumination in SAD: The Socially Anxious Rumination Questionnaire (SARQ), which was formerly known as the Thoughts Questionnaire. In particular, we examined the factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, sensitivity to treatment response, clinical cut-off scores (relative to non-clinical participants), and associated test performance indicators of the SARQ.

Managing hoarding and squalor.

Hoarding and squalor are complex conditions with a range of physical and mental comorbidities GPs play a key role in identifying people who experience these conditions, screening for safety risks, referral to specialist services and encouraging people to accept treatment and ongoing monitoring. Treatment for contributing and comorbid conditions should be optimised, with the help of specialist services when required. Medicines should be reviewed and adherence confirmed For moderate to severe hoarding and squalor, referral to specialist psychiatry, geriatrics and allied health services is recommended for thorough assessment, treatment of underlying conditions and ongoing management.

Mental health nurses' psychological well-being, mental distress, and workplace resilience: A cross-sectional survey.

Mental health nurses (MHNs) frequently face emotional adversity and stressors at work that can negatively impact their psychological well-being and result in mental distress. This can affect their capacity for therapeutic work, professional relationships, and overall work performance. In the context of work, resilience is a dynamic process of positive adaptation to adversity that can lead to psychological well-being and increased work performance.

A systematic review of clozapine's effectiveness for primary psychotic and bipolar disorders in older adults.

Objectives: The primary aim was to systematically review the literature regarding the effectiveness of clozapine in reducing symptoms of primary psychotic and bipolar disorders in older adults. The secondary aim was to describe other reported patient and caregiver outcomes of clozapine treatment in older adults.

Design: MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, ProQuest, and PubMed databases were searched according to PRISMA guidelines for original empirical research examining the effectiveness of clozapine in adults aged 65 years or more with primary psychotic and bipolar disorders.

Clozapine in the management of persistent destructive behaviour in a 17-year-old boy with intellectual disability.

The management of challenging and refractory destructive behaviour in young patients with intellectual disability (ID) is a major issue faced by families, carers and healthcare professionals who support them. Often, paediatricians and psychiatrists use various behavioural and psychopharmacological approaches, including polypharmacy. We report on one such patient who benefitted greatly from a trial of clozapine, resulting in less aggression, improved quality of life and potentially huge cost savings.

Integrating a Mobile Health Device Into a Community Youth Mental Health Team to Manage Severe Mental Illness: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Symptoms of mental illness are often triggered by stress, and individuals with mental illness are sensitive to these effects. The development of mobile health (mHealth) devices allows continuous recording of biometrics associated with activity, sleep, and arousal. Deviations in these measures could indicate a stressed state requiring early intervention.

Factors influencing inpatients perception of psychiatric hospitals: A meta-review of the literature.

Inpatient psychiatric hospitals have remained a standard aspect of mental health treatment for many centuries. While numerous treatments have been empirically validated to assist inpatients, less is known about how inpatients perceive psychiatric hospitals. A meta-review, which is a systematic review of systematic reviews, was conducted to examine the factors reported by inpatients which affect their perception of psychiatric hospitals.