Designing a Library of Lived Experience for Mental Health (LoLEM): Protocol for integrating a realist synthesis and Experience Based Codesign approach

Introduction: People with lived expertise in managing mental health challenges can be an important source of knowledge and support for other people facing similar challenges, and for carers to learn how best to help. However, opportunities for sharing lived expertise are limited. Living libraries support people with lived expertise to be ‘living books’, sharing their experiences in dialogue with ‘readers’ who can ask questions. Living libraries have been piloted worldwide in health-related contexts but without a clear model of how they work or rigorous evaluation of their impacts. We aim to develop a programme theory about how a living library could be used to improve mental health outcomes, using this theory to codesign an implementation guide that can be evaluated across different contexts.Methods and analysis: We will use a novel integration of realist synthesis and experience-based codesign (EBCD) to produce a programme theory about how living libraries work and a theory and experience informed guide to establishing a library of lived experience for mental health (LoLEM). Two workstreams will run concurrently: (1) a realist synthesis of literature on living libraries, combined with stakeholder interviews, will produce several programme theories; theories will be developed collaboratively with an expert advisory group of stakeholders who have hosted or taken part in a living library and will form our initial analysis framework; a systematic search will identify literature about living libraries; data will be coded into our analysis framework, and we will use retroductive reasoning to explain living libraries’ impacts across multiple contexts. Individual stakeholder interviews will help refine and test theories; (2) data from workstream 1 will inform 10 EBCD workshops with people with experience of managing mental health difficulties and health professionals to produce a LoLEM implementation guide; data from this process will also inform the theory in workstream 1.Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was granted by Coventry and Warwick National Health Service Research Ethics Committee on 29 December 2021 (reference number 305975). The programme theory and implementation guide will be published as open access and shared widely through a knowledge exchange event, a study website, mental health provider and peer support networks, peer reviewed journals and a funders report.PROSPERO registration details CRD42022312789

Designing a Library of Lived Experience for Mental Health: integrated realist synthesis and experience-based co-design study in UK mental health services

ObjectiveLiving Library events involve people being trained as living ‘Books’, who then discuss aspects of their personal experiences in direct conversation with attendees, referred to as ‘Readers’. This study sought to generate a realist programme theory and a theory informed implementation guide for a Library of Lived Experience for Mental Health (LoLEM).DesignIntegrated realist synthesis and experience-based co-design.Setting Ten online workshops with participants based in the North of England.ParticipantsThirty-one participants with a combination of personal experience of using mental health services, caring for someone with mental health difficulties, and/or working in mental health support roles.ResultsDatabase searches identified 30 published and grey literature evidence sources which were integrated with data from 10 online co-design workshops conducted over 12 months. The analysis generated a programme theory comprising five context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations. Findings highlight how establishing psychological safety is foundational to productive Living Library events (CMO1). For Readers, direct conversations humanise others’ experiences (CMO 2) and provide the opportunity to flexibly explore new ways of living (CMO 3). Through participation in a Living Library, Books may experience personal empowerment (CMO 4), while the process of self- authoring and co-editing their story (CMO 5) can contribute to personal development. This programme theory informed the co-design of an implementation guide highlighting the importance of tailoring event design and participant support to the contexts in which LoLEM events are held.ConclusionsThe LoLEM has appeal across stakeholder groups and can be applied flexibly in a range of mental health-related settings. Implementation and evaluation are required to better understand the positive and negative impacts on Books and Readers.RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42022312789Strengths and limitations of this study• This study used a novel, iterative, and creative approach to integrating theory development and intervention co-design.• A key strength of this approach was the involvement of people with lived experience expertise in mental health at every stage of co-design and theory development.• The programme theory and implementation guidance were informed by analysis of research on previous Living Libraries and detailed co-design workshops, which drew on broadprofessional and personal mental health experiences.• However, few evidence sources identified by systematic searches describe Living Libraries focused specifically on mental health

The Complete Plastid Genome Sequence of the Secondarily Nonphotosynthetic Alga Cryptomonas paramecium: Reduction, Compaction, and Accelerated Evolutionary Rate

The cryptomonads are a group of unicellular algae that acquired photosynthesis through the engulfment of a red algal cell, a process called secondary endosymbiosis. Here, we present the complete plastid genome sequence of the secondarily nonphotosynthetic species Cryptomonas paramecium CCAP977/2a. The ∼78 kilobase pair (Kbp) C. paramecium genome contains 82 predicted protein genes, 29 transfer RNA genes, and a single pseudogene (atpF). The C. paramecium plastid genome is approximately 50 Kbp smaller than those of the photosynthetic cryptomonads Guillardia theta and Rhodomonas salina; 71 genes present in the G. theta and/or R. salina plastid genomes are missing in C. paramecium. The pet, psa, and psb photosynthetic gene families are almost entirely absent. Interestingly, the ribosomal RNA operon, present as inverted repeats in most plastid genomes (including G. theta and R. salina), exists as a single copy in C. paramecium. The G + C content (38%) is higher in C. paramecium than in other cryptomonad plastid genomes, and C. paramecium plastid genes are characterized by significantly different codon usage patterns and increased evolutionary rates. The content and structure of the C. paramecium plastid genome provides insight into the changes associated with recent loss of photosynthesis in a predominantly photosynthetic group of algae and reveals features shared with the plastid genomes of other secondarily nonphotosynthetic eukaryotes

Decolonising the library and grey literature: Interview with John Barbrook

Across the fields of librarianship, information science, and grey literature, questions concerning values have come strongly to the fore. In particular, the notion of decolonisation of intellectual capital has gained currency. In this interview with John Barbrook, Faculty Librarian at Lancaster University, we discuss the meaning and process of decolonisation. In the process, we consider the role of providing pathways for library users. In addition, we explore the relationship between grey literature and systematic review

Using Overton to decolonise research

In this blog John Barbrook explains how Overton can be used as a tool for decolonising research. He outlines how the platform can help improve Systematic Review, and how he’s used it in his capacity as librarian to inform the best practice guidance he creates. He identifies features of the app that are especially handy when looking for evidence produced in the Global South

A Rapid Evidence Assessment of Technical Tools for the Detection and Disruption of Child Sexual Abuse Media (CSAM) and CSAM Offenders in The ASEAN Region

Taking a public health approach, this review contributes to online child sexual abuse tertiary prevention (post-event), assessing the effectiveness of automated tools used to identify and support the removal of CSAM. International research is first appraised for its relevance to CSAM prevention before examining research specific to the ASEAN region

The Idea of the Avant Garde : And What it Means Today, Volume 2

"The concept of the avant garde is highly contested, whether one consigns it to history or claims it for present-day or future uses. The first volume of The Idea of the Avant Garde – And What It Means Today provided a lively forum on the kinds of radical art theory and partisan practices that are possible in today’s world of global art markets and creative industry entrepreneurialism. This second volume presents the work of another 50 artists and writers, exploring the diverse ways that avant-gardism develops reflexive and experimental combinations of aesthetic and political praxis. The manifest strategies, temporalities, and genealogies of avant-garde art and politics are expressed through an international, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary convocation of ideas that covers the fields of film, video, architecture, visual art, art activism, literature, poetry, theatre, performance, intermedia and music." -- publisher's website