Stephen Tee

Experiences of service user and carer participation in health care education

The agenda of involving service users and their carers more meaningfully in the development, delivery and evaluation of professional education in health is gaining in importance. The paper reports on a symposium which presented three diverse initiatives, established within a school of nursing and midwifery in the United Kingdom. These represent different approaches and attempts to engage service users and in some instances carers more fully in professional education aimed at developing mental health practitioners. Each is presented as achieving movement on a continuum of participation from service users as passive recipients to service users as collaborators and co-researchers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the lessons to be learnt which will hopefully stimulate service user involvement on a wider basis.

Curriculum development through understanding the student nurse experience of suicide intervention education – A phenomenographic study

Suicide remains a global public health issue and a major governmental concern. The World Health Organisation argues for continued investment in education for front-line professionals, with a particular focus on nurses, to address the rising suicide levels. Considering this rate, it could be argued that suicide has impacted on the lives of many, including the student nurse population. Understanding the psychological impact, and influence on learning, whilst developing suicide intervention knowledge is crucial. However, little is known of the student experience in this complex and challenging area of skills development. This phenomenographic study examines the experiences of second year Bachelor of Nursing (mental health) students who participated in the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Experiences were illuminated through two focus groups, Experiences were distilled and categorised through hierarchically relationships to construct a group experiential field to illustrate understandings of the impact this approach has on learning Students found ASIST to be emotionally challenging yet an extremely positive experience through bonding, peer learning, and class cohesion. The supportive workshop facilitation was essential allowing for full immersion into role simulation thus developing student confidence. Appropriate pedagogy and student support must be considered whilst developing suicide intervention in the pre-registration curricula.

Integrated Service User‐Led Teaching In Higher Education: Experiences And Learning Points

Printed in Great Britain by Newnorth, Bedford Copyright for all published material in this journal is held by Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Limited unless specifically stated otherwise. Authors and illustrators may use their own material elsewhere after publication without permission but Pavilion asks that this note be included in any such use: ‘First published in The Mental Health Review, Volume 11 Issue 4 • December 2006.’ Subscribers may photocopy pages within this journal for their own use without prior permission subject to both of the following conditions: that the page is reproduced in its entirety including the copyright acknowledgments; that the copies are used solely within the organisation that purchased the original journal. Permission is required and a reasonable fee may be charged for commercial use of articles by a third party. Please apply to Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Limited for permission. Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Promoting positive perceptions and person centred care toward people with mental health problems using co-design with nursing students.

BACKGROUND People experiencing severe mental health problems often feel excluded from society due to stigmatization and prejudice. They typically experience negativity and lack life opportunities, which can be reinforced by the attitudes of those around them. Health care professionals, especially nurses, have the opportunity to challenge negative perceptions through role-modelling hope and positive expectation, breaking down barriers to participation and challenging discrimination. However, student nurses can enter the profession with attitudes similar to those of wider society and unless addressed can foster life-limiting approaches toward those for whom they are providing care. AIM This study aimed to design a person-centred education approach in response to an evaluation of the attitudes of nursing students in Turkey toward people with mental health problems. METHOD A qualitative design adopting descriptive phenomenology. Data were collected from 12 undergraduate nursing students by using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data were transcribed and themes identified which were used to co-design a person-centred education approach. RESULTS Three themes emerged from the data; (1) meanings attributed to mental illness, (2) moving from fear to understanding, (3) promoting hope and positive change Students typically demonstrated perceptions/attitudes that could be inhibiting to future practice. CONCLUSIONS The pedagogy employed in this study moved away from a focus on signs and symptoms of illness to person-centred approaches. More positive perceptions of mental health can be developed through codesigned, person-centred educational approaches.

The development of the Older Person's Nurse Fellowship: Education concept to delivery

BACKGROUND Preparing the nursing workforce to meet the challenges of an ageing population is a priority for many countries. The development of an Older Persons Nurse Fellowship (OPNF) programme for senior clinical nurses is an important innovation. OBJECTIVES This article describes the philosophical development, delivery and early evaluation of the OPNF. DESIGN In 2014, Health Education England funded 24 senior clinical nurses to participate in the OPNF. The Fellowship was designed to build clinical leadership and innovation capability and develop a network of nurses to influence local and national strategy for older peoples care. The Fellows selected were drawn from mental health (n=4), community/primary care (n=9) and acute care (n=11). The twelve month programme consisted of two Masters-level modules, delivered through study days and e-learning. The first cohort (n=12) commenced the course in November 2014 with a module designed to enhance clinical knowledge and skills. METHODS Evaluation data were collected from the first cohort using anonymous surveys (n=11) and focus group interviews (n=9). Descriptive statistics are presented for the quantitative data and common themes are described in the qualitative data. RESULTS The overall satisfaction with the clinical module was high with a median score of 18/20 (range 17-20). Topics such as comprehensive geriatric assessment, frailty, pharmacology and cognitive assessment were regarded as highly relevant and most likely to result in a change to clinical practice. In the focus group interviews students discussed their learning experience in terms of: module specificity, peer-to-peer learning and using the OPNF as leverage for change. CONCLUSIONS The OPNF is a timely innovation and a positive commitment to developing an academic pathway for senior nurses. It marks an important step in the future development of the older persons nursing workforce.

Virtual health education: Scaling practice to transform student learning

The advancements in and affordability of technologies offer increasing opportunities to modernise healthcare education into packages developed to meet the expectations and requirements of the digital generation. Purposefully designed and tested Virtual Reality Learning Environments (VRLE) can offer healthcare students the means to access and revisit learning materials in ways that enhance education and meet a range of needs; including those with specific learning differences and those who have traditionally been disenfranchised. Furthermore, this will make healthcare education much more readily available to those who have been previously marginalised by distance. This paper argues that Virtual Reality (VR) has the unique potential to transform healthcare education and suggests that more providers should consider collaborating with developers and investing in the technology.

Promoting Patient and Public Involvement in Primary Health Care: Part 2 ‐ Local Case Study

Primary care groups (PCGs) and primary care trusts (PCTs) are required to ensure that patient and public involvement underpins all activity. In Part 1, the literature review revealed many challenges to implementing this important measure of performance that would test those with responsibility for achieving a meaningful outcome for all stakeholders. Part 2 reports on a local study that used qualitative data from key stakeholders to examine how one PCG was responding to the involvement agenda. The findings revealed cynicism and doubt among board members about the purpose and value of involvement, despite which some progress had been made in engaging with local voluntary groups. However, the experience of involvement among local patients had not always been a positive one. It is suggested that issues of power and organisational culture will need to be tackled through greater investment in clinical and managerial staff development.