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!

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Exercise has a moderate positive impact on depression in people with heart failure

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Jan 17 2013

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Andre Tomlin

Chronic diseases and depression often go hand in hand. There is a growing evidence-base that shows how exercise can help reduce depressive symptoms in people with chronic illness and it’s encouraging to see a steady stream of primary research being published in this area. A new ancillary study published in JAMA examines the effect that [read the full story…]

The links between passive smoking and dementia: findings from a new cross-sectional study

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Jan 16 2013

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Andre Tomlin

Over 1 billion people on Earth smoke tobacco. WHO figures tell us that 80% of the smoking population live in low-middle income countries, most of which are not protected by any kind of smoke-free public health legislation. China is a particular black-spot in this regard. It has the largest tobacco smoking population in the world [read the full story…]

Clinicians should consider referring depressed patients to Internet Support Groups, according to new RCT

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Jan 15 2013

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Andre Tomlin

It can be incredibly difficult to talk about mental health conditions like depression, both for the person going through the illness and the friends and family who are trying to offer support. We know that overcoming this fear and talking through mental health problems can be a real life-saver and this message runs through the [read the full story…]

Making hospitals dementia-friendly: new report from the King’s Fund

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Jan 14 2013

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Andre Tomlin

It’s estimated that around one quarter of patients in general hospitals in England have cognitive problems or dementia. Visiting hospital can be a frightening experience and levels of anxiety are only heightened by the visuospatial problems that often affect people with dementia. As part of the National Dementia Strategy, the Department of Health has supported [read the full story…]

Check out the new BITE-sized mental health summaries from the NIHR CLAHRCs

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Jan 11 2013

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Andre Tomlin

Anyone who’s spent any time at all on the Mental Elf website, or any of the other National Elf Service sites, knows that we elves love succinct and focused summaries that are easy to read and quick to digest. It’s always a delight to see other groups publishing similar resources, so I’ve decided today to [read the full story…]

Antipsychotics don’t help increase weight or reduce symptoms for women with anorexia nervosa

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Jan 10 2013

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Andre Tomlin

Evidence-based treatments for mental health conditions have come on in leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. I remember as a young elf, skipping around the country and running workshops on evidence-based mental health; training psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and others. There wasn’t much gold standard evidence to choose from back then and there was [read the full story…]

Depressed people on disability benefits do as well on CBT as people not receiving benefits, according to new systematic review

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Jan 9 2013

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Andre Tomlin

I’ve read with interest a number of recent publications that suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may be less effective in patients receiving disability benefits versus other patients. The theory here is that the specific circumstances of being on disability benefits may somehow lead to poorer outcomes following CBT. There’s some evidence in other clinical [read the full story…]

NICE evidence summary on the unlicensed and off-label use of melatonin for sleep disorders in children with ADHD

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Jan 8 2013

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Andre Tomlin

NICE have recently started publishing a series of evidence summaries looking at unlicensed and off-label medicines. The second summary in the series looks at the use of prolonged-release melatonin tablets as a treatment for sleep disorders in children and young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Future mental health summaries include ‘Quetiapine for generalised [read the full story…]

Women and men with mental health problems are significantly more likely to have experienced domestic violence

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Jan 7 2013

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Andre Tomlin

The 2010/11 British Crime Survey reported that levels of lifetime partner abuse were 27% in women and 17% in men. The survey concluded that women experience more domestic violence than men and the abuse is more severe and prolonged in women. The Home Office is planning to redefine domestic violence in the coming months, to [read the full story…]

Give us a kiss for Christmas!

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Dec 21 2012

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Andre Tomlin

Dear readers, I’m going to be busy delivering festive cheer to all and sundry over the next few days, so won’t be posting any blogs now until the New Year. As you relax with your mince pies and mulled wine, spare a thought for us elves galavanting around. We’ve only got little legs! I’d like [read the full story…]

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