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 evidence suggests that antidepressants do not influence suicidal thinking in young people

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In 2004 the US Food and Drug Administration published a “black box” warning that highlighted an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts in young people who were taking antidepressants. This warning was updated in 2007. A new analysis of 41 randomised controlled trials has been published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, which suggests [read the full story…]

Mental health literacy increases, but mental heath stigma is not reduced. New systematic review explores why not

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We have learnt so much about mental illness in the last few decades and the science behind diagnosing, managing and supporting people with individual conditions has improved dramatically. Despite this improved knowledge, public attitudes to mental health issues remain varied and we still frequently hear horror stories about how people with mental health conditions are [read the full story…]

Find out which mental health services have the biggest impact on reducing suicide rates

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Every year in England and Wales, a suicide occurs in roughly one patient for every thousand in mental health treatment. These numbers make it hard to research what mental health service providers can do to prevent further suicides, so it’s encouraging to see a new cross-sectional observational study published in the Lancet with funding from [read the full story…]

Psychiatric drugs are as effective as other drugs, says new review of meta-analyses

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There’s an interesting review in the British Journal of Psychiatry this week, which compares the effectiveness of psychiatric drugs with those used to treat physical health problems. The headline from the review is that ‘psychiatric drugs are as effective as other drugs’. Professor Stefan Leucht who led the review team claims that: There is a [read the full story…]

NTA publish joint strategic needs assessment to help commission and plan local substance misuse recovery systems

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In April 2013, subject to the Health and Social Care Bill becoming law, local authorities will become responsible for commissioning drug treatment and recovery services. An effective approach to tackling substance misuse will require partnership working across local authorities, health bodies and criminal justice agencies. The object is not only for individuals to overcome dependency, [read the full story…]

Exercise can help reduce depression in people with chronic illness, says new systematic review

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There is a growing pool of research that looks into the impact that exercise can have on depression, but this systematic review and meta-analysis claims to be the first summary of trials into the effects of exercise training on depressive symptoms among patients with a chronic illness. The research team from the University of Alabama [read the full story…]

Over one third of adults with severe learning disabilities living in private households in England have autism according to new NHS report

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Adults with a more severe learning disability also have a greater likelihood of having autism according to a new report published by the NHS Information Centre. The report combines data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007 with findings from a new study based on a sample of people with learning disabilities living in [read the full story…]

13 screening instruments for detecting illicit drug use in general hospital settings: a systematic review

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Cross sectional studies (Mordal et al) tell us that around a third of patients admitted to acute psychiatric wards have illicit drugs detected in their system on admission. A third of patients also report a need for professional help in relation to their substance use. This new systematic review from researchers at York University (Mdege [read the full story…]

Web portal helps paediatricians adhere to ADHD guidelines, according to randomised controlled trial

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Mental health is an area where a lot of evidence-based guidelines now exist. A lack of evidence isn’t always the problem. In some cases, one of the key issues is that clinicians don’t adhere to the guidelines. The reasons for this can be many and varied: because they don’t know about the guidelines, because it’s [read the full story…]

NHS Confederation publish definitions for mental health services

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In mental health there has not been a consistent set of definitions that describe what is meant by an inpatient bed. This has led to difficulty in benchmarking and understanding patterns of performance. Understanding how inpatient beds and community services can best be utilised as part of a reshaped pathway, and whether the number of [read the full story…]