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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Tuning in to kids: a promising parenting programme for parents of preschoolers

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A recent randomised controlled trial from Melbourne Australia has highlighted the effectiveness of a prevention and early intervention parenting programme, which aims to “improve emotion socialization practices in parents of preschool children”. Tuning in to Kids is a 6-session group parenting program that helps children learn to understand and regulate their emotions. It teaches parents: [read the full story…]

NICE likely to update guidance on bipolar disorder & antenatal and postnatal mental health

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The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is undertaking a review to decide whether the NICE clinical guidelines on bipolar disorder (CG38) and antenatal and postnatal mental health (CG45) should be updated. Within the review proposal consultation document, NICE has concluded that the guidelines should be considered for an update at this time. The [read the full story…]

New report highlights the psychological complexity of obesity

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The British Psychological Society has published a new report about integrating psychological treatments with other interventions for obesity. The report covers: Obesity in children Weight loss surgery Physical activity and exercise psychology – healthy weight management for adults Exercise for obese individuals Applied psychology and obesity management Pharmacological interventions Psychological interventions for people with BMI>35 Dr [read the full story…]

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People with mental illness are 11% more likely to die after cardiac events than the rest of the population

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A new meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has found that people with mental health problems are significantly less likely to receive important cardiac treatment (revascularisation, angiography, angioplasty and bypass grafting) following a cardiac event. People with mental illness experience a 14% lower rate of invasive coronary interventions following a cardiac event and [read the full story…]

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Rates of common mental health problems have only risen slightly in the last 15 years according to a new UK study

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Researchers from the University of Leicester, UCL (University College London) and King’s College London have published a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry that appears to contradict the spate of recent news stories that the prevalence of mental disorder is on the rise. The researchers used data from three British Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys, [read the full story…]

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New diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease published by US National Institute on Aging

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The US National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association have published a new set of guidelines for diagnosing dementia and mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease. All of the papers from the Alzheimer’s and Dementia journal are available online in full-text: Jack CR Jr, Albert MS, Knopman DS, McKhann GM, Sperling RA, Carrillo MC, Thies [read the full story…]

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The assessment and management of insomnia in primary care

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There’s a nice review in this week’s BMJ for primary care professionals who haven’t had much time this week to think about the mental health awareness week topic – sleep. The authors provide a short summary of the key points: Insomnia affects a third of people and is a common cause of consultation in primary [read the full story…]

Wish you were here. Postcards reduced suicide in non-Western self-poisoners

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Researchers from Shahid Beheshti University in Iran have been studying the efficacy of a novel intervention for reducing suicidal behaviour.  For a year, they have been sending postcards to people who self poison in the hope that it will reduce their suicidal ideation and attempts. Their randomised controlled trial published in the British Journal of [read the full story…]

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New Clinical Evidence chapter on depression sees no significant changes to drug and physical treatment recommendations

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Black Dog

The BMJ have published an up to date guideline on the treatment of depression with drugs and physical interventions.  It provides a good overview of the effectiveness and safety of antidepressants, electroconvulsive therapy, exercise, lithium augmentation, pindolol augmentation, and St John’s wort. The authors found 88 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies and performed a [read the full story…]

Prescriptions for the treatment of alcohol dependency increase by 56% in 8 years

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Comorbidities such as alcohol

The Health and Social Care Information Centre have published Statistics on Alcohol for England 2011.  The yearly report includes data on drinking behaviour among adults and children, knowledge and attitudes to alcohol, drinking-related costs, ill health and mortality. The widely reported headline from the data is that the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England [read the full story…]

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