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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Why is it so difficult to measure the prevalence of depression in people aged 75 and over?

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A number of reviews have been published in recent years, which explore the prevalence of depression in old people. Prevalence rates vary enormously from one study to the next and so the reviews tend to report quite a wide range, typically up to 10%. Prevalence is defined as: “a measure of the proportion of people [read the full story…]

Achieving race equality in mental health: a new briefing from the NHS Confederation

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The NHS Confederation have published a new briefing that summarises the findings and recommendations from a recent report, commissioned by the Department of Health, into race equality in mental health. The report is based on a series of interviews with NHS and local authority leaders. The report suggests that focusing on tackling inequalities in access [read the full story…]

Mobile crisis teams reduce hospital admissions for serious mental illness, according to updated Cochrane review

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‘Crisis intervention’ and ‘home-care packages’ are provided in the community to help people who are going through an acute phase of severe mental illness. The Cochrane Schizophrenia Group have updated their review on this topic by conducting their usual robust and systematic search for randomised controlled trials of crisis intervention models versus standard care for [read the full story…]

Memory clinics no better than GP care for post-diagnosis treatment of dementia, according to new RCT

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Memory clinics are becoming more widespread in the UK and elsewhere. They offer assessment, support, information and advice to people with memory problems and their carers. GPs will often refer patients to memory clinics if they feel that they may be in the early stages of dementia, but need an assessment before a diagnosis can [read the full story…]

Telephone-based treatments can help children with disruptive behaviour and anxiety

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Many children suffer from disruptive behaviour or anxiety disorders, but access to care for this group is notoriously poor because there are so many barriers to receiving help.  Psychotherapy takes time and there remains a lack of funding and a dearth of trained professionals to deliver quality care.  Added to this is the stigma experienced [read the full story…]

New evidence on delirium from NICE

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Around 20% of people on medical wards in hospital are affected by delirium. Sometimes called ‘acute confusional state’, delirium is a common clinical syndrome characterised by disturbed consciousness, cognitive function or perception, which has an acute onset and fluctuating course. NICE issued guidance on delirium in July 2010 and they have now published an evidence [read the full story…]

Methods of non-fatal self-harm may help to predict future risk of suicide

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NICE guidance recommends that all people who self-harm and are admitted to hospital are given mental health and risk assessment: Everyone who has self-harmed should have a comprehensive assessment of needs and risk; engaging the service user is a prerequisite. – Taken from NICE Self-harm guidance (CG16), Nov 2004 This new prospective cohort study conducted [read the full story…]

CBT is no better than other psychosocial therapies for people with schizophrenia, according to new Cochrane review

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NICE guidance recommends offering CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), family therapy and arts therapies for people with schizophrenia: Offer CBT to all people with schizophrenia. This can be started either during the acute phase or later, including in inpatient settings. – Taken from 1.3.4.1 in Schizophrenia (CG82). NICE, March 2009. However, CBT is still not widely [read the full story…]

What’s the ‘optimal dose’ of psychotherapy to improve social functioning in people with depression?

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The majority of studies about depression measure outcomes using a scale such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (PDF), which is a questionnaire that patients complete with a health professional. This new randomised controlled trial by researchers from the Arkin Institute for Mental Health in Amsterdam uses the Hamilton Depression Scale, but is also measures social [read the full story…]

New CQUIN guidance focuses on identifying and referring people with dementia

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The Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) payment framework enables commissioners to reward excellence by linking a proportion of providers’ income to the achievement of local quality improvement goals. The framework aims to embed quality within commissioner-provider discussions and to create a culture of continuous quality improvement, with stretching goals agreed in contracts on an [read the full story…]