Christopher Wagstaff

Toward a new way of relating: An evaluation of recovery training delivered jointly to service users and staff

Aim This paper explores an innovative approach to recovery training in which the medium of delivery – as much as the actual content of what was delivered – challenged the conventional construction of professional relationships. Methodology The training group comprised service users together with the practitioners who normally worked with them and would continue to do so. The paper examines the staff experiences of the training and the impact on their practice through qualitative interviews conducted 6 months post-training with a sample of four staff participants. Findings The thematic analysis of the interviews demonstrated that this approach could be a powerful experience that brought about lasting changes in working relationships and professional identities. Particular themes that emerged included challenging power relationships and the value of the trainers disclosing their own lived experience and recovery narratives in creating a “safe space” for collaborative learning. Implications for future practice This approach demonstrated the potential to be transformative for staff and their relationships with service users, although care may need to be exercised when offering it to staff with little prior exposure to recovery-oriented practice.

The state of qualitative research in health and social science literature: a focused mapping review and synthesis

Abstract Pluralism and creativity are inherent and important parts of the qualitative endeavour. The multiplicity of approaches and methods can, however, be confusing. We undertook a focused mapping review and synthesis to obtain a snap-shot profile of the state of qualitative research in health and social science literature. We retrieved 102 qualitative articles published between January and March 2015 from six leading health and social science journals. Articles were scrutinised for alignment between researchers’ reported orientation (methodological or philosophical positioning) and the techniques used (methods). In the sampled articles level of alignment was generally high, with considerable mastery of qualitative approaches evident. However, the complexity of the qualitative landscape highlighted in our review, led us to develop a diagrammatic representation: The Qualitative Research Level of Alignment Wheel™. This educational resource/teaching aid is designed to assist qualitative researchers (particularly those more novice) and research students to locate the orientation and techniques of their studies. As an important contribution to the international field of qualitative inquiry, it will assist in understanding and accounting for points at which techniques are melded and orientations blended. In turn this will lead to the individual and collective qualitative endeavour as being a coherent one.

Qualitative evaluation of learning between different professional groups

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a qualitative evaluation of a learning initiative between different mental health professional groups, the Collaborative Learning Initiative (CLI). These qualitative results are after the first year of a two year evaluation of the CLI in which social work, clinical psychology and nursing students together with post-registration medics undertook a sequence of joint learning in relation to mental health theory and practice. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 81 post-course evaluations were qualitatively analysed using a process of thematic analysis based on the guidelines outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). Each academic involved with the CLI thematically analysed the post-course evaluations from their discipline. Following the generation of key themes each set of evaluations was separately analysed by an academic from a different professional discipline associated with the initiative. Findings – The evaluation of this initiative demonst...

Developing Risk Assessments from the Perspective of the Patient: A Case Study Report

This paper describes clinical team practice developed simultaneously but separately, in the Netherlands and the UK. Both teams work with patients with a significant risk history who are often unwilling to discuss risk; however it is imperative that clinicians do so. This paper discusses strategies the teams introduced to address this issue and case studies are used to illustrate the approaches. In addition to building a collaborative relationship the starting point of the risk assessment and management process was a ‘Stay well’ plan in which the patient describes the strategies which enable them to stay well. The case studies demonstrate how the changes to the risk assessment processes benefitted both the patients and the clinicians whilst also highlighting the need for on-going collaborative work. Making the perspective of the patient central to the risk assessment process; created an atmosphere of optimism and opportunities for dialogue and understanding. This case study paper highlights good clinical practice developed simultaneously, by mental health teams in the north Netherlands and the West Midlands United Kingdom in writing risk assessment strategies that fore front the perspective of the patient. These risk assessment strategies are explained in detail, complimented by case studies from each team.