Expert views of peer-based interventions for prisoner health.

Purpose: Formalised support services for prisoners that rely on peer methods of delivery show promising health and social outcomes but there is also conjecture that negative effects, both at an individual and organisational level, can occur. Design/methodology/approach: Individuals with recognised professional expertise from various sectors (including ex-prisoners) were invited to contribute to an expert symposium to share their perceptions of the positive and negative effects of peer interventions in prison. Discussions and debate were audio recorded with the consent of all delegates and verbatim transcripts were analysed using Framework Analysis. Findings: According to the participants, peer interventions in the prison setting created both positive and negative impacts. It was clear from the evidence gathered that peer interventions in prisons can impact positively on health outcomes, but these effects were perceived to be more well-defined for peer deliverers. The notion that peer deliverers can be subjected to ‘burnout’ suggests that supervisory processes for peer workers need to be considered carefully in order to avoid the intervention from being counter-productive. Organizationally, one of the salient issues was the adverse effects that peer interventions cause to the security of the prison. Originality/value: To our knowledge, this is the first time an expert symposium has been conducted to specifically examine peer interventions in prison and to consider the effects, both positive and negative, of such schemes

Burning issues in learning and teaching about mental health

This collection of Burning Issues has been compiled by the Mental Health in Higher Education project (mhhe) and the Higher Education Academy (subject centres) Special Interest Group for Mental Health (MHSIG). Together we aim to increase networking and the sharing of approaches to learning and teaching about mental health, across the disciplines in higher education. 150 educators came together at Lancaster University in 2010 for the ‘Living and Learning, Learning and Teaching: mental health in higher education’ conference. That event drew on our joint work in building networks and connections. It bore witness to the benefits of sharing ideas, across the disciplines, about learning and teaching in the area of mental health. mhhe and the MHSIG are both projects of the Higher Education Academy, with the Health Sciences and Practice subject centre taking a lead role in relation to the MHSIG. The Academy is currently restructuring its organisation and work. Building on the conference, and discussions at the MH SIG over recent years, we were keen to take a snapshot of current issues in learning and teaching about mental health and consider how networking might be supported in the future

Psycho-colonialism: colonisation in mental health

This thesis develops and contributes to an emerging field of postcolonial critique in the mental health field. Colonisation has been described as an issue for the Global South through the activities of western disciplines alongside business interests like ‘Big Pharma’. I argue that psychiatric practices are also colonising processes in the Global North: what I call psycho-colonisation. This thesis begins by outlining a rationale for interdisciplinary engagement with psycho-colonisation which includes drawing on postcolonial theory and activism, and examining colonisation processes through literature. I then review literature in two areas: Firstly, I assess the status and use of postcolonial thinking in the mental health arena. Secondly, I review (counter) canonical postcolonial thinkers selected on the basis of their engagement in resistance. In doing so, I establish a thematic scheme for assessing colonising processes. Humanities have a central role in both the colonisation process and resistance, and so I turn to a critical analysis of two writers’ work and what they tell about madness and psycho-colonisation. First, I critique Sebastian Faulks’ Human Traces (2005) as an exemplar of a traditional psychiatric discourse. I argue that Faulks’ novels aim to present a literary, historically authentic picture that inducts the reader into psychiatric orthodoxy. Colonisation exists in his writing at the level of producing a cultural power/knowledge effect. Secondly, I examine the works of Toni Morrison, specifically The Bluest Eye (1970) and God help the Child (2015), as examples of how madness is written about without recourse to traditional psychiatry, but with reference to socio-psychological and political contexts. For the most part, Morrison avoids psycho-colonisation. I conclude that there is a rationale for the use of postcolonial scholarship as a critical discourse in the mental health field. In addition, I show how the processes of colonisation through novels can be evident in the literatures of the Global North, and argue that the effect is one of a subtle induction of readers to psychiatric thinking and practices

Role of genetic testing for inherited prostate cancer risk: Philadelphia prostate cancer consensus conference 2017

Purpose: Guidelines are limited for genetic testing for prostate cancer (PCA). The goal of this conference was to develop an expert consensus-dri

Psy-science and the colonial relationship in the mental health field

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss how the psy-sciences have been, and continue to be, typified by some critics, as colonizers and are credited with Imperialistic motivations. However, rarely are these critiques developed beyond a pejorative characterisation. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the criticisms of psychiatry as colonial and outlines the tensions in taking different frames of reference in the mental health field, before going on to suggest theoretical and research perspectives arising from postcolonial theory that might advance these critical positions more coherently and the implications of doing so. Findings This study suggests an engagement with humanities-based methods and fields such as postcolonial scholarship. Social implications This argument is timely, especially given recent controversies over the publication of DSM5, the scaling up agenda for mental health in the Global South and increased attention to the agenda of Big Pharma. Originality/value Postcolonial intersections with psy-science remains a relatively undeveloped area in the critical literatur