F Sessa, N Campagnola, M Marini, I Toniolo and C Cremonese
Italy has recently become a country of net immigration, posing new challenges for health care, particularly psychiatry. Previous studies on migration and mental health have…
Abstract
Italy has recently become a country of net immigration, posing new challenges for health care, particularly psychiatry. Previous studies on migration and mental health have focused predominantly on individual psychopathologies or individual immigrant populations. The aim of this work is to determine the demand by foreign citizens for intervention at Padova‐based psychiatric services and to assess any differences in presentation of psychopathological symptoms in the various immigrant groups, with a view to developing adequate organisational and clinical responses. We reviewed 3,385 psychiatric consultations with Italian and immigrant patients, conducted between 2003 and 2004. Eleven per cent of these consultations were for immigrants, who were younger than their Italian counterparts. The most common geographical area of origin was Eastern Europe. North African immigrants were mainly male, while Eastern Europeans and Americans were chiefly female. Eastern European immigrants had a similar psychopathological pattern to Italians; North and Sub‐Saharan African and Asian patients presented more psychotic symptoms. The results of this study may contribute to planning treatment and prevention of psychotic disorders and to improving management of somatoform disorders by strengthening access to psychiatric treatment in the community.
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Rebecca Martland, Lucia Valmaggia, Vigneshwar Paleri, Natalie Steer and Simon Riches
Clinical staff working in mental health services experience high levels of work-related stress, burnout and poor well-being. Increased levels of stress, burnout, depression and…
Abstract
Purpose
Clinical staff working in mental health services experience high levels of work-related stress, burnout and poor well-being. Increased levels of stress, burnout, depression and anxiety and poorer mental well-being among health-care workers are associated with more sick days, absenteeism, lower work satisfaction, increased staff turnover and reduced quality of patient care. Virtual reality (VR) relaxation is a technique whereby experiences of pleasant and calming environments are accessed through a head-mounted display to promote relaxation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design of a study that assesses the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a multi-session VR relaxation intervention amongst mental health professionals, to improve their relaxation levels and mental well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a pre–post-test design. Mental health staff will be recruited for five weeks of VR relaxation. The authors will measure the feasibility and acceptability of the VR relaxation intervention as primary outcomes, alongside secondary outcomes evaluating the benefits of VR relaxation for mental well-being.
Findings
The study aims to recruit 20–25 health-care professionals working in both inpatient and specialist community mental health settings.
Originality/value
Research indicates the potential of VR relaxation as a low-intensity intervention to promote relaxation and reduce stress in the workplace. If VR relaxation is shown to be feasible and acceptable, when delivered across multiple sessions, there would be scope for large-scale work to investigate its effectiveness as an approach to enable health-care professionals to de-stress, relax and optimise their mental well-being. In turn, this may consequently reduce turnover and improve stress-related sick leave across health-care services.
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This paper aims to explore what is known in the literature about leadership and burnout within mental health clinicians (MHC).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore what is known in the literature about leadership and burnout within mental health clinicians (MHC).
Design/methodology/approach
The Arksey and O’Malley (2005) framework was used to conduct a systematised scoping review of three databases: PsycInfo, PubMed and CINAHL. To ensure a broad scope of the literature, Google, Google Scholar and three sources of grey literature were also searched.
Findings
In total 1,087 articles were identified and 36 were included in the final review, 23 of which were cross-sectional and correlational studies. There is a lack of experimental studies, longitudinal research and qualitative approaches. The literature repeatedly demonstrated an association between leadership and burnout; transformational-leadership style, good quality supervision, supportive relationships, positive communication and fostering autonomy are areas of interest.
Research limitations/implications
Future research activity should aim to follow the recommendations made in the literature; more experimental and longitudinal approaches are needed to support practical application of the findings.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge there is no other review which maps out the research pertaining to leadership and burnout among MHC. These findings can be used to guide future research to ensure that efforts are directed toward original, meaningful and practical ventures that will add to the evidence base and benefit clinical practice.
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Marilena Maglia, Roberta Auditore, Stefano Pipitone, Rachele DiPasqua, Lucio Inguscio and Pasquale Caponnetto
This study aims to investigate the effects of combining 12-week group psychotherapy with yoga exercises on stress perception and quality of life in mental health professionals.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of combining 12-week group psychotherapy with yoga exercises on stress perception and quality of life in mental health professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was a parallel-arm randomized controlled trial, in which the participants was unaware of which group was the experimental one. Participants involved in our research were assigned to two groups of separate treatment that followed for three months group psychotherapy combined with yoga program for stress management or usual stress coping strategies.
Findings
The findings did not reveal a significant difference in stress perception assessed in the two groups either before or after intervention but reveal a significant difference in the quality of life in the two groups before and after the psycho behavioral interventions.
Originality/value
The findings did not reveal a significant difference in stress perception assessed in the two groups either before or after intervention but reveal a significant difference in the quality of life in the two groups before and after the psycho behavioral interventions.
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Carlo Devillanova and Tommaso Frattini
The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess whether immigrants suffer from unequal access to health care services, that add to prevailing socioeconomic barriers to care.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess whether immigrants suffer from unequal access to health care services, that add to prevailing socioeconomic barriers to care.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a uniquely rich Italian health survey, the authors estimate the correlation between immigrant status and the probability of accessing health services, conditional on a rich set of individual and territorial characteristics.
Findings
Results show that foreigners are more likely to contact emergency services and less likely to visit specialist doctors and use preventive care. Similar results hold for second-generation immigrants.
Originality/value
The authors discuss the sources of observed inequities and suggest tentative policy implications to promote equal access.
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Zoe Posner, Jessie Janssen and Hazel Roddam
Burnout in mental health staff is acknowledged as a major problem. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of mental health staff views on improving burnout and…
Abstract
Purpose
Burnout in mental health staff is acknowledged as a major problem. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of mental health staff views on improving burnout and mental toughness in mental health staff.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten participants from two mental health rehabilitation units across the north-west of England took part in a Nominal Group Technique. Participants consisted of mental health workers from varied roles in order to capture views from a multidisciplinary team. The main question posed to the staff was “What strategies and techniques do you think could help improve burnout and mental toughness in mental health staff”.
Findings
The study revealed that the top three ideas to take forward to help improve burnout and mental toughness in mental health staff were improving the culture/organisation, improving staff wellbeing and education. Additionally, staff were highly motivated and enthusiastic about engaging in discussion about what could be done to improve their wellbeing and the importance of taking this forward.
Originality/value
This study is unique in involving mental health staff in discussing their ways of improving their mental health. It is also unique as it has found the nine strategies to do this and these could be used in targeted training for mental health staff.
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The murders of Black people at the hands of police in 2020 have led to global protests that have called on public officials to defund or abolish the police. What has been drowned…
Abstract
Purpose
The murders of Black people at the hands of police in 2020 have led to global protests that have called on public officials to defund or abolish the police. What has been drowned out in these conversations, however, is the traumatizing aftereffects of anti-Black police violence as a public health crisis. In this paper, I argue that the racial terrorism of anti-Black police violence is a deeply felt wound in Black communities that extends beyond the individuals who directly experience it and that this type of collective trauma must be understood as an urgent public health crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
Using published studies and online commentaries on anti-Black police violence and its mental health impacts in Canada and the United States, this paper examines the mental health impacts of anti-Black police violence at both the individual and community levels.
Findings
A public health response to the traumatizing aftereffects of anti-Black police violence and other forms of state violence must highlight important policy imperatives, such as policies of action focused on improving the public health system. It must also encompass a recognition that the public health crisis of anti-Black police violence is not solvable solely by public health agencies alone. Rather, strategic opportunities to address this crisis arise at every level of governmental interaction, including law enforcement, health care, employment, business, education and the media.
Originality/value
While the impact of anti-Black police violence on the mental health of Black individuals has been emerging in the literature over the last several years, what has been less focused on and what I address in this paper is how the threat of that violence lingers in Black communities long after the protestors have packed up their megaphones, resulting in collective trauma in Black communities.
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The present paper is the first to find sufficient efficient conditions for stability of solutions of singularly perturbed systems with impulse effect.
Abstract
The present paper is the first to find sufficient efficient conditions for stability of solutions of singularly perturbed systems with impulse effect.
Padma Charan Mishra, Rashmi Ranjan Panigrahi and Alaka Samantaray
This study aims to identify the impact of commercial issues (CIs), financial issues (FIs) and corporate affairs (CAs) on operational excellence (OE) of the mining industry.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the impact of commercial issues (CIs), financial issues (FIs) and corporate affairs (CAs) on operational excellence (OE) of the mining industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A purposive sample of size 321 was collected from Indian mining executives with more than ten years of exposure to the mining field. Factors are identified and confirmed with the use of confirmatory factor analysis. The structural equation modeling technique was then applied to understand the unique as well as the complex relationships between FI, CI, CA and OE.
Findings
The results indicate that all three issues, CI, FI and CA, have an influence on OE in the Indian mining industry. Among the variables of the issues considered in this study, marketing products and size and quality of products (from CI); scale of economies (from FI); risk management (from CA); and transportation and machine operation (from OE) are the highest influencing variables.
Research limitations/implications
This study has its limitations in sampling, the timing of sample collection and their mode. The samples were collected from only massively deposited large mines.
Practical implications
Business managers of the mining industry will be more vigilant and aware of those indirect variables such as marketing products, size and quality of products, scale of economies and risk management, which can influence OE apart from major influencing variables such as transportation and machine operations and production scheduling.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the mining industry to evaluate the impact of these three issues on OE. The originality of this research lies in testing the CI, FI and CA of the mining industry with OE, which is completely new to this field.