Andre Tomlin

André Tomlin is an Information Scientist with 20 years experience working in evidence-based healthcare. He's worked in the NHS, for Oxford University and since 2002 as Managing Director of Minervation Ltd, a consultancy company who do clever digital stuff for charities, universities and the public sector. Most recently André has been the driving force behind the Mental Elf and the National Elf Service; an innovative digital platform that helps professionals keep up to date with simple, clear and engaging summaries of evidence-based research. André is a Trustee at the Centre for Mental Health and an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London Division of Psychiatry. He lives in Bristol, surrounded by dogs, elflings and lots of woodland!

Website

Follow me here –

Review identifies a lack of research about the long-term employment outcomes for people with bipolar disorder

5 Responses »

Feb 18 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

Back in October I blogged about the factors (cognitive deficits, depression and education level) that predict worklessness in people with bipolar disorder. A new systematic review by Steven Marwaha and colleagues has recently been published in the Acta Psychiatric Scandinavica journal, which adds to our understanding of this field. The review looks at the long-term [read the full story…]

New review confirms the strong association between criminal history and violence risk in psychosis

4 Responses »

Feb 15 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

What’s the relationship between violence and psychosis? It’s an emotive debate that’s been running for years. On the one hand we have the net curtain-twitching, tabloid-reading brigade who picture axe-wielding psychopaths as soon as they read the word schizophrenia. On the other we have patients, carers, mental health charities and many clinicians who claim that [read the full story…]

Critical time intervention reduces psychiatric rehospitalisation in homeless people

5 Responses »

Feb 13 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

Recent work by Suzanne Fitzpatrick and colleagues from Heriot Watt University has investigated the experiences of people who are affected by what they call multiple exclusion homelessness; a combination of homelessness, substance misuse, ‘street’ activities such as begging and street drinking, and institutional care (e.g. prison). Their quantitative survey shows that there is considerable overlap [read the full story…]

New report about supporting people with schizophrenia back into the labour market

3 Responses »

Feb 12 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

Back in November 2012, the Schizophrenia Commission reported that people with schizophrenia are being badly let down by the health and social care system and by the employment market. The final report of the commission (I blogged about it here) concluded that people with schizophrenia face a lifespan 15-20 years shorter than the general population and [read the full story…]

Are you making the most of your National Elf Service?

7 Responses »

Feb 8 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

It’s not all about the Mental Elf you know. There are lots of other elves who spend every waking hour scurrying around to find reliable evidence to help you. There are now seven magnificent elf websites and one more due to launch very soon. Here’s a quick run down of my brothers and sisters in [read the full story…]

Released prisoners have an increased risk of death compared to the rest of the population, particularly from drugs, suicide and homicide

5 Responses »

Feb 7 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

Nearly 10 million people were in prison in 2008, according to estimates provided by the World Prison Population List (Walmsley, 2009). The United States tops the imprisonment league table with 2.3 million individuals behind bars, that’s 756 per 100,000 of the population. Whatever your view on the US legal system and incarceration, it’s interesting to [read the full story…]

Many psychiatric patients experience domestic violence, but more research is needed

9 Responses »

Feb 5 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

The links between domestic violence and mental health are well documented. Research shows that people who are suffering from mental health problems may be more vulnerable to domestic violence. Studies also suggest that domestic violence may increase the risk of mental illness and that continued violence may lead to more persistent ill health. However, we [read the full story…]

People with schizophrenia are significantly more likely to die from heart disease and cancer

25 Responses »

Feb 4 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

Since starting this blog two years ago, I have written about a number of studies that highlight the health inequalities faced by people with severe mental illness. The evidence keeps piling up and it’s really quite shocking that we are not doing more to diagnose and treat physical health problems in people with conditions such [read the full story…]

Would you like to write for the Mental Elf?

16 Responses »

Feb 1 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

We’re looking for people who share our commitment to delivering quality-filtered updates of emerging evidence that focus on the needs of health and social care professionals. It would also help if you like elves! You might be a subject specialist, a clinician, a researcher, a student or even an information scientist. If you want to use your [read the full story…]

SSRI use in pregnancy does not increase the risk of stillbirth, neonatal mortality or post-neonatal mortality

5 Responses »

Feb 1 2013

Posted by
Andre Tomlin

Studies have shown that the prevalence of depression in pregnant women is 7-19%. Being depressed during pregnancy can result in preterm delivery, which can in turn lead to illness and even death of the newborn child. Researchers have struggled to single out the causes of these risks. Is it the depression, the medical treatment being [read the full story…]

Follow me here –

Free trial