135 research outputs found
Mutual aid groups in psychiatry and substance misuse
Background: Mutuality is a feature of many âself-help groupsâ for people with mental health and/or substance misuse needs. These groups are diverse in terms of membership, aims, organisation and resources. Collectively, in terms of the pathways for seeking help, support, social capital or simply validation as people, mutual aid groups figure at some time in the life story of many psychiatric and/or substance misuse patients. From the viewpoint of clinical services, relations with such groups range from formal collaboration, through incidental shared care, via indifference, to incomprehension, suspicion, or even hostility. How should mental health and substance misuse clinicians relate to this informal care sector, in practice?
Aims: To synthesise knowledge about three aspects of the relationship between psychiatric/substance misuse services and mutual aid groups:
profile groups' engagement of people with mental health and/or substance misuse needs at all stages of vulnerability, illness or recovery;
characterise patterns of health benefit or harm to patients, where such outcome evidence exists;
identify features of mutual aid groups that distinguish them from clinical services.
Method: A search of both published and unpublished literature with a focus on reports of psychiatric and substance misuse referral routes and outcomes, compiled for meta-synthesis.
Results: Negative outcomes were found occasionally, but in general mutual aid group membership was repeatedly associated with positive benefits.
Conclusions: Greater awareness of this resource for mental health and substance misuse fields could enhance practice
Internal consistency and factor structure of the adherence scale for alcoholics anonymous
Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study
A41 Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study
In: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 2017, 12(Suppl 1): A4
Motivational intervention to enhance postâdetoxification 12âStep group affiliation: a randomized controlled trial
Predicting the likelihood of QA failure using treatment plan accuracy metrics
This study used automated data processing techniques to calculate a set of novel treatment plan accuracy metrics, and investigate their usefulness as predictors of quality assurance (QA) success and failure. 151 beams from 23 prostate and cranial IMRT treatment plans were used in this study. These plans had been evaluated before treatment using measurements with a diode array system. The TADA software suite was adapted to allow automatic batch calculation of several proposed plan accuracy metrics, including mean field area, small-aperture, off-axis and closed-leaf factors. All of these results were compared the gamma pass rates from the QA measurements and correlations were investigated. The mean field area factor provided a threshold field size (5 cm2, equivalent to a 2.2 x 2.2 cm2 square field), below which all beams failed the QA tests. The small aperture score provided a useful predictor of plan failure, when averaged over all beams, despite being weakly correlated with gamma pass rates for individual beams. By contrast, the closed leaf and off-axis factors provided information about the geometric arrangement of the beam segments but were not useful for distinguishing between plans that passed and failed QA. This study has provided some simple tests for plan accuracy, which may help minimise time spent on QA assessments of treatments that are unlikely to pass
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TechnologyâDelivered CognitiveâBehavioral Interventions for Alcohol Use: A MetaâAnalysis
BackgroundCognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has long-standing evidence for efficacy in the treatment of alcohol use, yet implementation in clinical practice has been challenging. Delivery of CBT through technology-based platforms, such as web-based programs and mobile applications, has the potential to provide widespread access to this evidence-based intervention. While there have been reviews indicating the efficacy of technology-based delivery of CBT for various psychiatric conditions, none have focused on efficacy for alcohol use. The current meta-analysis was conducted to fill this research gap.MethodsDescriptive data were used to characterize the nature of the literature on technology-delivered, CBT-based interventions for alcohol use ("CBT Tech"). Inverse-variance-weighted effect sizes were calculated, and random effects, effect sizes were pooled in 4 subgroups.ResultsFifteen published trials conducted primarily with at-risk or heavy drinkers were identified. Of these studies, 60% explicitly targeted alcohol use moderation. The content of CBT Tech programs varied, ranging from 4 to 62 sessions/exercises, with many programs combining elements of motivational interviewing (47%). With respect to efficacy, CBT Tech as a stand-alone treatment in contrast to a minimal treatment control showed a positive and statistically significant, albeit small effect (g = 0.20: 95% CI = 0.22, 0.38, kes = 5). When CBT Tech was compared to treatment as usual (TAU), effects were nonsignificant. However, when CBT Tech was tested as an addition to TAU, in contrast to TAU only, the effect size was positive, significant (g = 0.30: 95% CI = 0.10, 0.50, kes = 7), and stable over 12-month follow-up. Only 2 studies compared CBT Tech to in-person CBT, and this pooled effect size did not suggest superior efficacy.ConclusionsThese results show a benefit for technology-delivered, CBT-based interventions as a stand-alone therapy for heavy drinking or as an addition to usual care in specialty substance use settings
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