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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The evidence remains weak for aripripazole as a treatment for schizophrenia

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First generation typical antipsychotics (e.g. chlorpromazine and haloperidol) have historically been used a great deal to treat people with schizophrenia. More recently, second-generation atypical antipsychotics (e.g. risperidone and olanzapine) have been more frequently used. For many, these drug therapies help to reduce psychotic episodes and the overall impact of the illness, but not all patients [read the full story…]

New consensus guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia

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The British Association for Psychopharmacology regularly publish consensus guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of mental health conditions. In the last two years these publications have included guidance on insomnia (PDF), dementia (PDF) and bipolar disorder (PDF). The latest guideline from the BAP is on the pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia and as usual it’s available in full-text [read the full story…]

Caring for our future: Department of Health launch consultation on social care reform

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The Government have launched a consultation exercise that aims to engage with people who use care and support services, carers, local councils, care providers, and the voluntary sector about the priorities for improving care and support. The consultation will run from today until early December and will feed into the White Paper and the progress report on [read the full story…]

Key facts and trends in UK mental health: new fact sheet from the NHS Confederation

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The NHS Confederation Mental Health Network have updated their publication on key facts and trends in mental health. The 8-page PDF contains information about the prevalence of mental disorders, employment and housing, stigma and discrimination, current NHS spending, service activity, quality, safety and user experience. Here are some of the headlines: The largest increase in [read the full story…]

Benzodiazepines may protect against seizures in alcohol withdrawal syndrome

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Every once in a while the Cochrane library publish an overview of reviews to summarise the evidence for a specific intervention. Such an overview has recently been made available to bring together all of the Cochrane reviews that assess the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal. The overview brings [read the full story…]

Brief psychological therapies are effective for treating depression and anxiety in primary care

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Psychological therapies given to people with depression, anxiety or mixed disorders in primary care are usually delivered over a shorter time period than in secondary care. In the UK, 6 sessions is a common treatment length, which contrasts to the 12-24 sessions that have been the subject of most trials of psychological therapies in secondary care [read the full story…]

Personal health budgets: the views of service users and carers

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The NHS Confederation have published a 20-page report that examines the views of mental health service users and carers on personal health budgets. Personal health budgets are defined as the allocation of NHS funding which patients/ service users, after an assessment, are able to personally control and use for the services they choose to support [read the full story…]

Psychotherapies are effective treatments for depression and anxiety in low and middle income countries

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A new meta-analysis published in the African Journal of Psychiatry investigates the efficacy of psychological treatments for depression and anxiety disorders in low and middle income countries. To date there has perhaps existed a view that psychological mindedness is missing amongst the population of developing countries. There is good evidence that psychological treatments work as [read the full story…]

Reviewing the evidence on homelessness, mental health, substance misuse and social exclusion

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The relationship between homelessness, mental health, substance misuse and social exclusion is explored in this new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The short report, which features contributions from projects in the Multiple Exclusion Homelessness Research Programme, highlights how policy and practice can make a difference in this area. Key points from the report include: [read the full story…]

Each year more than one third of EU residents have a mental health disorder

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A group of researchers from Dresden in Germany have recently updated a review they originally published in 2005, which provides 12-month prevalence and disability burden estimates of a broad range of mental and neurological disorders in the European Union (EU). Their review included studies from all 27 EU member states plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway [read the full story…]