Andre Tomlin

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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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New NICE briefings on inequalities and population health, the Public Health Outcomes Framework and alcohol

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NICE have published three new public health briefings for local government on Inequalities and population health, the Public Health Outcomes Framework and Alcohol. These documents are aimed at local authorities and their partner organisations in the health and voluntary sectors, in particular those involved with health and wellbeing boards. Local government is preparing to take [read the full story…]

Antidepressants and suicide risk: retrospective cohort study reports cautious findings

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Research has shown that antidepressant use can lead to a non-significant increase in the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour in people aged under 25 (Stone et al, BMJ 2009). This subject rightly received a large amount of media coverage a few years ago and it remains an area where new studies can add to [read the full story…]

Weak evidence comparing duloxetine to other antidepressants, says new Cochrane review

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Antipsychotics can help with the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, but they are also associated with a range of serious adverse events.

There are many different antidepressants to choose from when treating acute depression, so it’s always helpful to see a systematic review that looks at the efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of the different drugs. This new Cochrane review compares duloxetine hydrochloride (one of the newer drugs) with other antidepressants and finds little high quality evidence upon [read the full story…]

Adolescent girls are less satisfied with their bodies compared to boys, according to Finnish cohort study

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It’s hardly surprising that teenage girls and boys express dissatisfaction with their bodies. The vast majority of TV, magazine, billboard and Internet images of the human body present a wholly unrealistic and unattainable version of the male and female physique. Young people cannot help but compare themselves to these standards and feel that they come [read the full story…]

Trip Database, the leading evidence-based search engine, just got even better

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My blog today is a bit different. It’s announcing a new website rather than highlighting a specific piece of mental health evidence. Coinciding with its 100 millionth search, the Trip Database has released its latest upgrade, easily the biggest change in Trip’s fifteen years.  Trip is a clinical search engine designed to allow users (mainly [read the full story…]

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A joined-up solution for social inclusion and mental health recovery: new briefing from the Centre for Mental Health

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Recovery is an increasingly popular concept and philosophy in mental health circles and rightly so. Many of us who have direct experience of suffering from a mental health condition extol the virtues of an educational self management approach that helps individuals to take responsibility for themselves.  This kind of approach can help us develop the [read the full story…]

NICE publish new guidance on the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children under five

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These new recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) cover home visits, early education and childcare for vulnerable children. The public health guidance recognises that disadvantage before birth and in a child’s early years can have life-long, negative effects on health and wellbeing. It aims to ensure that both universal and [read the full story…]

The Welsh Government publish their delivery plan for the mental health strategy in Wales

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In 2010 the Welsh Assembly passed a new piece of legislation called the Mental Health (Wales) Measure, which aims to ensure that people with mental health problems are appropriately cared for. The Act stipulates that assessment and treatment of mental health issues are a legal duty of Local Health Boards and Local Authorities and seeks [read the full story…]

Depression, discrimination, stigma: new cross-sectional survey in The Lancet

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A new cross-sectional survey published in The Lancet has revealed some unsurprising but nonetheless sobering facts about how people with depression are stigmatised. The research team, funded by money from the European Commission, interviewed 1,082 people with depression from 35 countries across the world. They used the discrimination and stigma scale (version 12; DISC-12) to [read the full story…]

Genetic tests unlikely to help improve drug treatment for depression, according to new cohort study

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There has been a lot of discussion over recent years about the ways in which genetic testing may help make the treatment of depression become more targeted and effective. The theory is that genetic markers may help predict how different people are likely to respond to different drugs. This is clearly something that would interest [read the full story…]