news archive

ENQUIRE - call for papers – April 2009

This high quality online journal for the social sciences is planning a summer issue around the title A health research realm? Placing oneself in health and illness research with the focus on self-reflection and rumination upon the role of researchers.

They are particularly looking for submissions from doctoral students, post-docs and early career academics.

The deadline for submissions has been extended to 20th April 2009.

Click here for document [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 54.08 KB]

Wednesday Seminar Series – March 09

This Wednesday seminar series is facilitated by the Institute of Mental Health and held at the Sir Colin Campbell Building.

Please follow this link [Word Document - 265 KB] for all dates and here [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 196.97 KB] for the map.

Monthly update for January 2009

All the news from the Institute for this month.

This update gives details about parking when visiting the Institute.

Click here for Monthly update [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 30.93 KB]

Personality and Mental Health journal – November 2008

The following papers appear in the current edition - Volume 2(4):

• Personality traits and mental health treatment Utilization by Christopher Hopwood et al

• The associations among personality disorder symptoms, suicide proneness and current distress in adult male prisoners by Dorian Lamis, Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling and Amber Simpler

• Personality disorders in first-episode psychosis by Erik Simonsen et al

• Defence mechanisms in schizophrenia by Richard Shaw, Maria Geurse and Hans Steiner

• Conceptualizing personality disorders from a general model of personality functioning: antisocial personality disorder and the five-factor model by Lauren Gudonis, Drew Miller, Joshua Miller and Donald Lynam

• Emotional intelligence, alexithymia and borderline personality disorder traits in young adults by Daniel Webb and Mary McMurran

The complex case for this edition has been written by Janine Stevenson, Philip Boyce and Henry Brodaty and is called The relationship between, and treatment of, DSM Axis I and II disorders encountered in combination.

Latest edition of Mental Health Review journal – September 2008

Papers in this edition - Vol 13(3) - include:

• Impact of the Increase in State Benefits on Expenditure by Patients in a High Secure Hospital by Sarah Harper, Michael Ferriter and Irene Cormac

• Education as an Exit Strategy for Community Mental Health Nurses: A Thematic Analysis of Narratives by Paul Crawford, Brian Brown and Pam Majomi

• Job Satisfaction Among Psychiatrist: An urgent area for research by Shailesh Kumar

• Computerised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Phobias and Panic Disorder: A systematic review by M Ferriter, E Kaltenthaler, G Parry and C Beverley

• Service Evaluation of Multidisciplinary Therapy on an Acute Psychiatric Ward by Rachel Gibson, Aleksandra Novakovic, Katie Francis, Kathryn McGilloway, Antony Adkin and Saka Odekunle

• A Theoretical Framework for Goal-directed Care within the Prison System by Erik Bulten, Annelies Vissers and Karel Oei

Current edition of Therapeutic Communities Journal – September 2008

Papers published in Volume 29(3):

• Seeking Nature: A contemporary therapeutic environment by Ambra Pedretti Burls

• Contexts, Benefits and Links with Therapeutic Communities by Rachel Hine, Jo Peacock and Jules Pretty

• Lothlorien Community: A holistic approach to recovery from mental health problems by Brendan Hickey

• Group Gardening in Mental Outpatient Care by Erja Rappe, Taina Koivunen and Elli Korpela

• Companion Animals and Offender Rehabilitation: Experiences from a prison therapeutic community in Scotland by Elizabeth Ormerod

• Behavioural Effects of Goats on Disabled Persons by Silke Scholl, Gerlinde Grall, Verena Petzl, Marlene Rothler, Leopold Slotta-Bachmayr and Kurt Kotrschal

• Green Care Farms: A safe community between illness or addiction and the wider society by Marjolein Elings and Jan Hassink

• Theoretical Framework for Animal-Assisted Interventions: Implications for practice by Bente Berget and Bjarne Olai Braastad

Also included in this edition is a book review written by Anita Bracey on a book published by Routledge called Imagining Animals - Art Psychotherapy and Primitive States of Mind by Caroline Case.

The Institute has moved! – September 2008

The Institute has now moved to its new base at the Sir Colin Campbell Building on the Jubilee Campus of the University of Nottingham.

Our NHS Our Future - 30 June 2008

The Our NHS Our Future Review was published on 30th June 2008 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the NHS.

To take a look at Lord Darzi's full report, please click here.

For a short summary, please follow this link [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 51.63 KB]

Social Capital MIN – May 2008

Anne Felton, School of Nursing, and Liz Chisholm, Framework Housing Association, presented research done by the Social Capital MIN at a conference of the European Network for Measurement and Evaluation of Services for Mental Health (ENMESH) held in Krakow, Poland on May 23-25, 2008.

The study is an example of user-conducted research, which is rare, and its qualitative analysis of clients' perspectives offers insights into the issues facing long term services who live in community settings.

At the same conference, Justine Schneider presented a paper on a new 'social inclusion at work' scale, and a poster on the costs and benefits of supported employment.

The next ENMESH conference will be in Vilnius, Lithuania, on June 4-6, 2010.          

From Innovation to Practice – April 2008

The Trust and the Institute for Mental Health were well represented at 'From Innovation to Practice: the promise and challenge of achieving recovery for all' run by Boston University's Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation in April 2008.

Rebecca Shaw, service user, presented a poster on 'Working together towards recovery for all'.

Sue Atkinson, Trust learning advisor, presented preliminary findings of research undertaken by the Education Managed Innovation Network (MIN) on the obstacles and benefits of education for people with mental health difficulties.

Justine Schneider, professor of mental health and social care, presented a poster about the MINs in general, highlighting their contribution to research, development and service user and carer involvement.

They were joined by Julie Repper, associate professor of mental health nursing, who is spearheading recovery training in the Trust. The team from Nottingham found themselves among 850 people from over 100 countries who attended the conference.

Call for Clinical Research Group proposals – February 2008

The UK Mental Health Research Network is seeking proposals (in the form of an Expression of Interest) to set up a number of new Clinical Research Groups.

The purpose of Clinical Research Groups (CRGs) is to provide the creative drive of the Network. Each CRG is expected to turn research ideas into funded studies that are suitable for running on the MHRN.

The closing date is 4th February 2008 - please follow the link for further information and the application process [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 33.47 KB]

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – 14 January 2008

 A call for abstracts has been issued to all those working in the field of health services research and health care policy for presentation and/or poster display at "Delivering better health services" - the join Health Services Research Network and NIHR SDO Programme 2008 annual conference in Manchester on 4 & 5 June.

There is a £250 prize for best research presentation and a £150 prize for best poster display.

Deadline is 14 January 2008.

Research Passports - 21 December 2007

The research passport and associated guidance has been published and is now available in Research in the NHS-HR Good Practice Resource Pack.

More information about the passport can be found on the UKCRC website.

Henderson Hospital to close – 13 December 2007

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, who own the Henderson Hospital, claimed a lack of funds was behind the closure.

Established in 1947, the hospital cares for people with personality disorders through a mixture of inpatient and outreach work. The hospital has 29 beds and is run by a team of 39 staff.

The Trust's chief executive, Peter Houghton, said "regional and local commissioners have not renewed their funding for next year and this means that Henderson does not have secure funding".

Press release from MRC & NIHR – 5 November 2007

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) have announced a new joint arrangement for clinical trials. The initiative forms a key part of the developing MRC-NIHR joint strategy for translational research.

As part of the strategy, a new clinical research programme called the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme will be launched on 1 April 2008. The EME will be funded by the MRC, and administered by the NIHR as the lead organisation. The programme aims to support excellent clinical science with an ultimate view to improving health or patient care. Its remit includes clinical trials and evaluative studies which add significantly to our understanding of biological or behavioural mechanisms and processes, explore new scientific or clinical principles, evaluate clinical efficacy of interventions where proof of concept in humans has already been achieved and the development or testing of new methodologies.

The new strategy will see the EME programme working with the already established NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, to ensure that promising technologies are carried from the efficacy and safety stage through to being assessed for clinical and cost-effectiveness to the NHS. The HTA programme will continue to produce research information about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS.

The EME Programme will mainly work in responsive mode, taking applications from the research community and assessing them at regular intervals, although it may also fund proactively in particular areas of importance. Details of how to apply for funding will be available from January 2008.

Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chief Executive of the MRC said the new arrangements would help maintain the UK's place in leading how research is funded and carried out: "More than sixty years ago the MRC developed a design for clinical trials that is recognised today as the gold standard - the randomised controlled trial. The MRC is delighted to be working with NIHR to provide new opportunities for late phase clinical trials. The partnership will enable us to take promising research and turn it into effective therapies more quickly and more efficiently. We will continue to play a major role in defining direction and strategy in clinical trials."

"This is an exciting collaboration between the MRC and NIHR in managing clinical research in the UK, and in bridging the gaps in translation of research into clinical benefit identified in the Cooksey Review," says Professor Sally Davies, Director General of Research and Development at the Department of Health, on behalf of the NIHR. "It allows new and existing research programmes to work more closely together to ensure that the excellent biomedical research conducted in the UK is translated into excellent clinical research and real benefits for patients. Recent developments in the infrastructure for clinical research in the UK will facilitate rapid recruitment to trials."

Details of other components of the MRC-NIHR joint strategy for health research covering discovery and exploratory development, methodology and human capital will be announced separately.

The MRC and NIHR joint arrangement has been developed with the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research.

The Institute celebrates first year anniversary – 1 November 2007

The Institute celebrated its first year anniversary at the Senate Chamber, University of Nottingham on 1st November 2007.

Professor Clair Chilvers, Chair of the Trust and the Institute, was the keynote speaker and reflected on her experience of mental health research.

Other speakers included:

• Professor Patrick Callaghan

• Professor Mary McMurran

• Professir Richard Morriss

Our NHS, Our Future - October 2007

Click here for document [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 1.09 MB]

In this month's Lancet – September 2007

In his editorial, Richard Horton commits The Lancet to make mental health one of its campaign focal points over the next 2 years.

Please take a look at the link for articles on mental health and human rights, mental health and global movement of people and others.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals

Depression leads to worst health – 7 September 2007

Depression is a more disabling condition that angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes.

Please click on the link for the full story from the BBC heath website.

Medical Research Council fellowships - 6 September 2007

The MRC provides support for talented individuals who wish to pursue a career in the biomedical sciences, public health and health services research, through a broad portfolio of personal award schemes. These range from studentships for early research training, through to postdoctoral research training fellowships and career development opportunities for more senior investigators.

For further information, please take a look at the MRC website.

How an old dog taught me new tricks – 5 September 2007

For people who find it difficult to relate to others, owning a dog can often be far more effective than drugs or therapy, says Clare Allen.

It's been well documented that for some people who find it difficult to relate to others, an animal, especially a dog, can provide the opportunity for a truly sustaining relationship. When I got Billie, this was certainly true of me. I'd just been sectioned - locked on a ward where the levels of violence and despair were such that suicide seemed like a sane survival strategy. I'd shut down completely; I felt nothing at all. Even when I stood at the kitchen sink pouring boiling water over my arms, it felt as though I didn't exist; I was doing it to someone else.

It was my Mum who had initially suggested I get a dog and, in promising to care for the animal should I wind up on the wards, it was also my Mum who made it possible. This is the biggest obstacle confronting prospective dog owners with serious mental health problems. Hospital stays tend to be measured in months, or weeks at best. While local authorities will pay for kennelling a dog, I don't believe long stays in kennels are a satisfactory solution for animals used to a home environment.

It's an issue that deserves serious consideration. Dog ownership is not for everyone, but it is for the right person at the right time. What a dog can offer rivals anything humans have come up with in terms of drugs or therapy, so it seems a shame to rule it out for the people who stand to gain the most.

My care coordinator at the day hospital was unconvinced by my arguments in favour of a dog. "You should be looking for someone to care for you, not something to care for," he told me. Thankfully, I didn't listen. Drinking weak tea for months on end in a common room stinking of stale cigarettes, surrounded by self-harming hopelessness, I had run out of reasons to live.

It was Billie, a Staffordshire bull terrier, who gave me my life back. And if I couldn't always fully share the burst of joyful enthusiasm with which she greeted each fresh, untainted day, it was hard to watch her charging through the autumn leaves, rolling in the rough grass then flopping exhausted on to my lap without feeling a twinge of enthusiasm for the world that had created her, and of which she was so enthusiastic a part.

Like a mental-health guide dog, Billie led me out into the world. My life had shrunk to such an extent that I barely knew anyone not connected with the psychiatric system. I clearly remember the novelty of our first visit to the vet. Here was a doctor unconcerned with the state of my mental health. For once, the focus was on something else and, to my surprise, he appeared to find me quite normal.

Billie and I went to puppy school and for walks on Hampstead Heath. I chatted to other dog walkers as our pets chased each other round the trees or wrestled like otters in the grass. We talked about our dogs, the weather, the news, what was on TV - just ordinary, unremarkable stuff. But in its very ordinariness, it was precious proof that I could exist outside the mental health system.

It wasn't all plain sailing. Much like psychiatric patients, Staffords suffer from a sensationalist media. Both are regularly portrayed as violent and dangerous, which is a gross distortion of the truth. Nicknamed "the nanny dog" by those who know its loving nature and reliability with children, it has been the Stafford's misfortune to appeal - thanks to its powerful, athletic physique - to people seeking a status symbol or, even worse, a weapon.Neglected, brutalised, abused dogs, like people, learn from their environment.

One morning, Billie and I were out walking when a woman approached us, bearing a petition. "They're building a mental hospital right next to the park," she said. "With all those children playing, and the bushes, it's just not safe. I mean, I've nothing against psychiatric patients..." I didn't sign the petition. "And that dog should be muzzled," she muttered, stalking off after someone else. I don't suppose she had anything against Staffords either?

This is the first column I've written without my best friend sitting beside me. The truth is, I can hardly bear to write it at all. Billie died on July 18 from a brain tumour. She was 10 years old.

Clare Allan is a writer and novelist.

This high quality online journal for the social sciences is planning a summer issue around the title A health research realm? Placing oneself in health and illness research with the focus on self-reflection and rumination upon the role of researchers.

Mental health struggles to compete – 4 September 2007

In London, a team of leading health experts is calling for more resources for global mental health - and more recognition of the impact of mental health illness on other health problems.

Follow the link to the BBC website for the full story.

Research project receives funding - October 2007

Dr Patrick Callaghan (Professor of Mental Health Nursing and Chartered Health Psychologist) has recently been awarded nearly £250,000 by the Department of Health to undertake a two-year research project evaluating the impact of the Chief Nursing Officer's (CNO) Review of Mental Health Nursing on practice.

The CNO review asked service users, cares, nurses, and other interested groups about their views of mental health nursing. The Government then issued a report recommending 16 ways for services to improve for the benefit of users and carers and recently asked how Trusts were progressing in meeting these recommendations; which forms the aim of this research project.

The project will involve working in partnershp with users and carers and will carry out a survey of mental health services, including universities, and ask them how they are doing in using the CNO's recommendations. Once the results have been examined the Government and our services will be advised on the best ways of using the recommendations so that users and carers get a better mental health service.

For more information, please contact Patrick on 0115 969 1300 ext 40748 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Older people's mental health – 22 August 2007

Our mentally ill older people are languishing at the bottom of the list.

Mental health among older people has become synonymous with dementia. Cursory reading of the news coverage of the UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Wellbeing in Later Life, published last week, might suggest the same thing.

Click for the report

Depression is 'over-diagnosed' – 17 August 2007

Professor Gordon Parker (University of New South Wales, Australia) claims in the British Medical Journal the threshold for clinical depression it too low and risk treating normal emotional states as illness.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6950733.stm

Elderly mental health care 'poor' (BBC News) – 13 August 2007

Services for older people with mental health problems are inadequate, an independent panel has warned.

Follow the link for the full story.

UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Bring in Later Life

Scholarships awarded - 6 August 2007

Congratulations to 3 Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust staff who have recently been awarded with Nursing and Allied Health Professions (AHP) Scholarships. These scholarships are funded by the Institute.

The successful applicants are:

• Colin Kelly, Ward Manager, The Peaks, Rampton Hospital

• Deborah Thompson, Modern Matron, Mental Health Services for Older People

• Lisa Timmerman, OT, Rushcliffe Community Learning Disability Team

For further details please contact Joan Kenyon on 01623 784839 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Best Practice in Managing Risk – 14 June 2007

This report outlines the principles and evidence for best practice in the assessment and management of risk to self and others in mental health services.

This framework is a guide for mental health professionals working with service users to assess risk. It underpins risk assessment with principles of good practice for all mental health settings and provides a list of tools offering structure to risk management.

Click here for report [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 443.54 KB]

Attitudes to mental illness in England 2007 – June 2007

This report includes the finding that 'respondents were less likely to agree that "people with mentall illness are far less of a danger than most people suppose" in 2007 than they were in 1994'.

Click here for report [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 1.12 MB]

Breaking down barriers – May 2007

Employment, housing and a strong network are as important to a person's mental health as the treatment they receive. Louis Appleby, the National Director for Mental Health, explains why we have to continue to improve community care and break down the barriers that can prevent people from rebuilding their lives.

Click here to visit Department of Health document.

Chair appointed – 1 November 06

Professor Clair Chilvers has been appointed Chair of the Institute of Mental Health Management Board.
Professor Chilvers will take up post on 1st November, 2006.