Can mental health legal representation and advocacy contribute to personal recovery?

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Objective: Mental health legal advocacy services play a pivotal role in promoting the legal and social rights and increased participation in decision making for people diagnosed with a mental illness. Traditionally, recovery and mental health legal advocacy were not linked. The purpose of this study was to determine if elements of the CHIME (connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment) recovery framework can be reflected in activities such as legal representation and advocacy delivered by mental health law advocates. Method: Secondary analysis was undertaken on data collected in an evaluation of a mental health law centre. Analysis involved deductive coding and thematic analysis. Data were compared and contrasted to the five elements of the CHIME framework. Results: Four out of five CHIME elements were identified. These included connectedness with law centre staff, messages of hope from staff, experiences of empowerment and validation which informed a positive sense of identity. Discussion: The results invite mental health law centres to consider their role in influencing personal recovery journeys through their advocacy and legal representation activities

Impact of falls on mental health outcomes for older adult mental health patients: An Australian study.

Sustaining a fall during hospitalization reduces a patient's ability to return home following discharge. It is well accepted that factors, such as alteration in balance, functional mobility, muscle strength, and fear of falling, are all factors that impact on the quality of life of elderly people following a fall. However, the impact that falls have on mental health outcomes in older adult mental health patients remains unexplored. The present study reports Health of the Nation Outcome Scale scores for people over the age of 65 (HoNOS65+), which were examined in a cohort of 65 patients who sustained a fall and 73 non-fallers admitted to an older adult mental health service (OAMHS). Results were compared with state and national HoNOS65+ data recorded in Australian National Outcome Casemix Collection data to explore the effect that sustaining a fall while hospitalized has on mental health outcomes. Australian state and national HoNOS65+ data indicate that older adults generally experience improved HoNOS65+ scores from admission to discharge. Mental health outcomes for patients who sustained a fall while admitted to an OAMHS did not follow this trend. Sustaining a fall while admitted to an OAMHS negatively affects discharge mental health outcomes