Run by School of Health Sciences

40 Credits or 20 ECTS Credits

Semester 1

Organiser: Dr Marjorie Ghisoni

The overall aim of this module is personal and professional development in early intervention in mental health practice. Early intervention is a key aspect of mental health practice which will lead to improved outcomes for the adult, older person or child with mental health problems. This is a main driver of local, national and international health and social care policies. In order to recognise and to refer to appropriate agencies professionals must have the knowledge and skills to act quickly and confidently. Professionals who may encounter people with mental health problems include teachers, lecturers, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and police officers. Staff working in public services and the third sector may also be in regular contact with this vulnerable group of people. It is important for all professionals to be able to work together to ensure a fast response to people in distress so that their safety is not compromised and their recovery is promoted as soon as possible so that the lasting effects of severe distress are limited. This new module will introduce the concept of early intervention and will encourage students to develop a narrative of mental health practice within their own professional field. Students will be able to build upon this module of the MSc in Mental Health Practice and develop empirical evidence for their practice through critical analysis and synthesis of current evidence-based practice. Existing knowledge and skills will be developed in inter-professional working, assessment, diagnostic criteria, interventions, recovery and person-centered compassionate care.

The content of the module will reflect a narrative approach to practice and follow the continuum of service delivery according to local national and international policies and may include some or all of the following.

Contemporary knowledge and practice in compassionate person centered care

Mental health assessment skills and tools including the Mental State Examination (MSE)

Understanding and applying diagnostic criteria

Interventions for recovery in mental health care

Mental health recovery focused practice

Collaborative person-centered care and treatment planning

Community and intra personal resilience

Mental health and wellbeing

Therapeutic jurisprudence

Suicidal ideation and prevention

Positive risk management

Crisis management and intervention

Behavioral management of psychological symptoms

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacology

Policy informed practice.

Trauma informed practice.

excellent

Excellent 70-100% Very good understanding of the facts and principles specific to the topics covered in this module and evidence of additional evidence gained by the student. Very good understanding of professional accountability issues. This equates to a minimum mark of Grade A- in the Grading Criteria

good

Good 60 –70%

Basic understanding of the facts and principles specific to the topics covered in this module. Basic understanding of professional accountability issues. Students will be required to achieve a minimum of C- grade in the assignment to in order to pass the theory component of the module.

threshold

Threshold 50-60%

Basic understanding of the facts and principles specific to the topics covered in this module. Basic understanding of professional accountability issues. Students will be required to achieve a minimum of C- grade in the assignment to in order to pass the theory component of the module.

1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of core skills in mental health practice in your professional field, using a reflective blog.

2. Demonstrate a critical awareness of current mental health practice in your professional field.

3. Critically analyse local, national and international policy and law around mental health practice in your professional field.

4. Demonstrate advanced skills in mental health assessment and collaborative care and treatment planning in your field of practice.

5. Critically analyse person centered, compassionate care in your professional field and demonstrate advanced skills development in a narrative of practice.

Type	Name	Description	Weight
	Mental Heath Practice Core Skills Essay		60
	Mental Health Practice Core Skils Blog		40

		Hours
Lecture	core concepts and approaches to mental health practice	30
Seminar	interprofessional discussions around issues in professional practice	20
Group Project	collaborative interprofessional problem-based learning	30
	E- Learning - developing practice and knowledge in accessing information online	20
Individual Project	accessing information as directed from a variety of resources	100
Private study	discussing and accessing information from professional fields	200

• Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
• Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
• Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
• Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
• Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
• Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
• Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
• Safety-Consciousness - Having an awareness of your immediate environment, and confidence in adhering to health and safety regulations
• Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
• Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
• Mentoring - Able to support, help, guide, inspire and/or coach others
• Caring - Showing concern for others; caring for children, people with disabilities and/or the elderly
• Management - Able to utilise, coordinate and control resources (human, physical and/or financial)
• Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
• Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
• Leadership - Able to lead and manage, develop action plans and objectives, offer guidance and direction to others, and cope with the related pressures such authority can result in

Narrative practice skills - critical awareness of person centered, compassionate and collaborative care

Risk management skills – identifying risk and using positive risk management techniques

Teamworking skills - working collaboratively with other professionals building on strengths and knowledge.

Coproduction skills – working compassionately with others to develop mental health resilience and recovery.

Resource implications for students

Students will have full access to the library and internet using the existing university resources.

Reading list

Cohen N Galea S (2012) Population Mental Health Evidence Policy and Public Health Practice. Oxford Taylor Francis (BU Library)

Coppock V Dunn B (2010) understanding social work practice in mental health London Sage. (BU Library)

Cunningham J Cunningham S (2017) Social Policy and Social Work: An Introduction. London Sage (BU University)

Department of Health and Social Care (2015) Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice. London. HMSO

Dwyer P Shaw S (2013) An Introduction to Social Policy London Sage (BU Library)

Ghodse H (2011) International Perspectives on Mental health. London. Royal College of Psychiatrists. (BU Library)

Haith M (2018) Understanding Mental Health Practice. London Sage

Hale B (2017) Mental Health Law. Sweet and Maxwell Thomas Reuters (BU Library)

Knifton L Quinn N (2015) Public Mental Health Global Perspectives Maidenhead Open University Press (BU Library)

Philips P, Sandford T, Johnston C (2013) Working in Mental Health: practice and policy in a changing environment. London Routledge. (BU Library)

Steen M Thomas M (2015) Mental Health across the lifespan. A Handbook Oxford Taylor and Francis. (BU library)

Woods P Kettles A (2009) Risk assessment and management in mental health nursing. Chichester Blackwell (BU library)

Wrycraft N (2015) Assessment and care planning in mental health nursing. Maidenhead Open University press (BU Library)

Welsh Government (2012) Code of Practice Mental health Measure 2010. Cardiff Welsh Government.

World Health Organization (2016) International classification of diseases and related health problems 10th Revision (ICD 10). Geneva World Health Organization.