Mental Health

Group Lead: Helen Lester

This group is multidisciplinary in nature, focuses mainly on intervention development and evaluation, but includes epidemiological and policy work.

The mental health group has been in existence since 2001. In particular, we aim to develop and test pragmatic interventions for use in primary care, but we are also engaged in explanatory trials and translational research. We have a particular focus on the care of people with serious mental illness including the commissioning, development and evaluation of early intervention services, service users’ views of care and improving primary care mental health.

Current work includes:

  • modeling a framework for how mental health, substance misuse and learning disabilities services could be commissioned by Local Authority and NHS commissioners
  • a cochrane review of collaborative care for people with serious mental illness and cross sectional study of current care for people with serious mental illness
  • exploring service user, carer and providers’ views of services for people at the point of discharge from Early Intervention Services
  • a trial of bespoke smoking cessation therapy for people with schizophrenia
  • qualitative evaluations within trials of CBT for command hallucinations, computerised CBT for depression and Joint Crisis Plans to reduce compulsory treatment of people with psychosis.

Research group members...

More info...

Completed and in-progress projects include:

  • An Evaluation of Early Intervention Services for First Episode Psychosis in the West Midlands: Commissioning and Implementation perspectives.
  • 2009- Liz England is one of the co-researchers involved in the Birmingham and Black Country NIHR CLAHRC Theme 3: Early detection and interventions in psychosis; alongside Professor Max Birchwood (theme leader), Professor Swaran Singh, Professor Helen Lester and Professor Nick Freemantle. Liz's role within this program of research is to explore DUP (Duration of Untreated Psychosis) in primary care. This will be through a combination of interviews with GPs, carers and patients and analysis of GP records. The CLAHRC program has been funded by the National Institute of Health Research NIHR £2, 500,000.
  • 2010- £2600 Co-researcher with Profs Jill Thistlewaite, Roger Charlton and Mrs J Coomber, Warwick University to undertake an evaluation of Revalidation for Doctors working in secure environments.
  • 2010- £30 000 Wolverhampton Council To explore mental health services for people with a learning disability.
  • 2010- £30 000 Wolverhampton Council Exploration of primary care mental health services for people with a learning disability and pathways into and out of services for people with a learning disability who offend.
  • 2010- Lead researcher West Midlands Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Commissioning Modelling Group. This piece of work will be co-produced by NHS West Midlands and the National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) and has two aims: firstly, to model a framework for how mental health, substance misuse and learning disabilities services could be commissioned by Local Authority and NHS commissioners in the region in the context of the new NHS and the expanded role of Local Government; and secondly, to describe the characteristics, capabilities and activities that could be anticipated to arise across the region from a successful commissioning strategy.

The aim of this qualitative multimethod study is to undertake an evaluation of the factors influencing commissioning and implementation of Early Intervention Services (EIS) in England from the perspective of micro (service delivery-EIS teams), meso (PCT) and macro ( SHA) levels of the NHS. This study will determine local and regional views of EIS development in terms of service development priorities and possible tensions arising with National EIS strategy. The findings will provide useful information and generate recommendations for policy makers, managers and clinicians on the implementation of new policies within an NHS context. The findings will also be generalisable beyond the field of mental health.

Peer Reviewed publications...

 

2011

Tait L, Beresford G. Generalised anxiety disorder: the importance of life context and social factors. British Journal of General Practice 2011 (in press). [Commissioned EDITORIAL]  


2010

Tait L, Ryles D, Sidwell, A. Strategies for engagement. In P French, J Smith, D Shiers, M Reed, M Rayne, (Eds). Promoting recovery in early psychosis: A practice manual. London, Blackwell, 2010.

Tait L, Heron J. Management of postnatal depression in primary care: a window of opportunity. British Journal of General Practice 2010, 60(580):801-802. [Commissioned EDITORIAL].

Blank DL, Bodansky DMS, Forbes A, Garde E, Story F, Roalfe A, Tait L: Influenza vaccination of future health care workers: a cross sectional study of uptake, knowledge and attitudes. Vaccine 2010, 28(29):4668-72.

England E. Survival in primary care after a diagnosis of dementia. British Medical Journal 2010 341: c3530.

 

2009

Tait L. To disclose or not to disclose psychological problems to GPs.  British Journal of General Practice 2009, 59(566):638-639. [Commissioned EDITORIAL].

Simon A E, Lester H, Tait L, Stip E, Roy P, Conrad G, Hunt J, Epstein I, Larsen T K, Amminger P, Holub D, Wenigova B, Turner M, Berger G E, O’Donnell C, Umbricht D: The international study on general practitioners and early psychosis (IGPS). Schizophrenia Research 2009, 108(1):182-190.

Lester H, Birchwood M, Freemantle N, Michail M, Tait L: REDIRECT: cluster randomised controlled trial of general practitioner education in detection of first episode psychosis. British Journal of General Practice 2009, 59(563):403-408.

Mavaddat N, Lester H E, Tait L: Development of a patient experience questionnaire for primary care mental health. Quality and Safety in Health Care 2009, 18:147-152.

Lester H, Birchwood M, Stirling B, England E, Rogers H and Sirvastava N. Development and implementation of early intervention services for young people with psychosis: a case study. British Journal of Psychiatry 2009 May; 194(5):446-50.

England E. Alzheimer’s disease. ‘Just in Time’ On-line Learning Module. BMJ On-line 2009.

England E, Lester H, Birchwood M. Collaborating to provide early intervention services for persons in England with first episode psychosis. Psychiatr Serv. 2009 Nov; 60(11):1484-8.

 

2008

Lester H, Birchwood M, Tait L, Shah S, England L, Smith J: Barriers and facilitators to partnership working between Early Intervention Services and the voluntary and community sector. Health & Social Care in the Community 2008, 16(5):493-500.

 

2007

Tait L, Shah S: Partnership working: a policy with promise for mental healthcare. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 2007, 13:261-271.

H Lester, N Freemantle, S Wilson, H Sorohan, E England, C Griffin, and A Shankar. Cluster randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of graduate primary care mental health workers. British Journal of General Practice 2007; 57: 196-204

England E and H Lester. Implementing the role of the graduate primary care mental health worker: a qualitative study. British Journal of General Practice 2007; 57: 536:204-211

England E, Harms M and Zanetto U. Ectopic breast tissue presenting as a persistent vulval swelling in a primary care minor surgery clinic. A case report and review of the literature. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2007; 47 (5): 424-5

 

2006

Lester H E, Tait L, England E, Tritter J: Patient involvement in primary care mental health: a focus group study. British Journal of General Practice 2006, 56:415-422.

Lester HE, Tait L, Shah S, Birchwood M J, Rogers H J. Early intervention services: The role of psychiatrists and partnership working with the voluntary and community sector. 2006. Final report for the National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation R & D (NCSDO). [Report written by Lynda Tait].

England E. Improving the management of dementia. British Medical Journal 2006; 332:681-2.

 

2005

Lester H, Tait L, Khera A, Patterson P, Birchwood M: The development and evaluation of an educational intervention on first episode psychosis for primary care. Medical Education 2005, 39:1006-14.

Tait L, Lester H, Birchwood M, Freemantle N, Wilson S: Design of the Birmingham early detection in untreated psychosis trial (REDIRECT): cluster randomised controlled trial of general practitioner education in detection of first episode psychosis [ISCTN87898421]. BMC Health Services Research 2005, 5:19.

Tait L, Lester H: Encouraging user involvement in mental health services. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 2005, 11:168-175.

England E. Alzheimer’s disease. ‘Just in Time’ On-line Learning Module. BMJ On-line 2005. (In response to BMJ Editor request as the 2004 module was very popular).

England E, Lester HE. Integrated mental health services in England: a policy paradox. International Journal of Integrated Care, 3 October 2005 - ISSN 1568-4156

 

2004

Tait L, Birchwood M, Trower P: Adapting to the challenge of psychosis: personal resilience and the use of sealing over (avoidant) coping strategies. British Journal of Psychiatry 2004, 185:410-415.

England E. Alzheimer’s disease. ‘Just in Time’ On-line Learning Module. BMJ On-line, 2004.

 

2003

Tait L, Birchwood M, Trower P: Predicting engagement with services for psychosis: insight, symptoms and recovery style. British Journal of Psychiatry 2003, 182:123-128.

Lester HE, Tritter J, England E. Satisfaction with primary care: The perspectives of people with schizophrenia. Family Practice 2003; 20(5): 508-513.

 

2002

Tait L, Birchwood M, Trower P: A new scale (SES) to measure engagement with community mental health services. Journal of Mental Health 2002, 11(2):191-198.


2000

Lester HE, England E, Briscoe J, Clark M. Cases for Change in Mental Health. Department of Health, HMSO, 2000.