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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Adding cognitive behaviour therapy to drug treatment helps children with obsessive compulsive disorder

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Nov 29 2011

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Andre Tomlin

Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often prescribed antidepressant drugs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SRI), but many only partially respond to this treatment. This randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, examined the effects of augmenting the antidepressant medication with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The trial was quite [read the full story…]

Antidepressants reduce suicide risk by 20% in patients with affective disorders, according to new cohort study

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Nov 28 2011

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Andre Tomlin

In November 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration required that black box warnings be placed on all antidepressant medications warning they may result in increased risk of suicidal tendencies in children and adolescents. It is now considered good practice that patients of all ages who initiate antidepressants should be monitored for clinical worsening or [read the full story…]

Is laughter the best medicine for depression? Probably not, but it’s nice to see some trials being published

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Nov 25 2011

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Andre Tomlin

In the absence of a systematic review, we often go looking for randomised controlled trials as the best available evidence to answer questions about treatment. These two small randomised controlled trials from Korea and Iran respectively, investigate the effectiveness of laughter on mental health. The first trial from Kyungpook National University Hospital investigated the effects of [read the full story…]

Should we be prescribing antipsychotics to young people with bipolar disorder?

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Nov 25 2011

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Andre Tomlin

This systematic literature review and meta-analysis conducted by researchers from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will be of interest to all clinicians who treat paediatric bipolar disorder. Treatment decisions for young people have previously been based on extrapolation from adult trials, case reports, open label trials or expert opinion. This new study provides a [read the full story…]

New NHS operating framework focuses on mental health issues

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Nov 24 2011

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Andre Tomlin

The new NHS operating framework has been published today and it sets priorities on a number of mental health issues. The Department of Health press release says: The operating framework describes the national priorities, system levers and enablers needed for NHS organisations to maintain and improve the quality of services provided, while delivering transformational change [read the full story…]

Psychological therapy services demonstrate benefits for patients but further improvement is needed

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Nov 24 2011

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Andre Tomlin

This meta-analysis included 29 RCTs, representing 10,430 patients from 11 countries, and reported a 43% reduction in anxiety from primarily CBT-based psychotherapies.

A report into the care received by patients with anxiety and depression across more than 350 NHS-funded psychological therapy services in England and Wales has revealed good overall standards of care, but substantial variation in quality. The National Audit of Psychological Therapies (NAPT), commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and carried out by [read the full story…]

NICE publish new guidance on the long-term management and treatment of self-harm

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Nov 23 2011

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Andre Tomlin

This new guideline published today suggests that psychological interventions should be offered to people who self-harm to help them overcome their behavioural problems. Specifically it recommends that healthcare professionals should offer 3-12 sessions of a psychological intervention that is specifically structured for people who self-harm. The intervention should aim to reduce self-harm and should be [read the full story…]

NHS drug misuse report shows increase in hospital admissions for drug related disorders

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Nov 23 2011

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Andre Tomlin

The NHS Information Centre have published their annual statistical report presenting information on drug misuse among both adults and children, which this year has a focus on young adults. The bulletin also summarises Government plans and targets in this area, as well as providing sources of further information and links to relevant documents. The topics [read the full story…]

One in 12 teenagers self harm, but most stop spontaneously

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Nov 22 2011

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Andre Tomlin

Researchers from Australia have published the first population based study to chart the incidence of self harm during the transition from late adolescence through to adulthood. They recruited a stratified random sample of 1,943 teenagers from 44 schools across Victoria over a 16 year period (1992-2008). Participants were given questionnaires and telephone interviews and followed [read the full story…]

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