Search

Accessing social care and social support services is key to support the well-being of people living with dementia (PLWD) and unpaid carers. COVID-19 has caused sudden closures or radical modifications of these services, and is resulting in prolonged self-isolation. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of COVID-19 related social care and support service changes and closures on the lives of PLWD and unpaid carers. PLWD and unpaid carers were interviewed via telephone in April 2020. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Demographic characteristics including household Index of Multiple Deprivation score and weekly hours of social support service usage before and since the COVID-19 outbreak were also collected. Paired samples t-tests was used to compare the mean of weekly hours of social support service usage before and since the outbreak. 50 semi-structured interviews were conducted with unpaid carers (n = 42) and PLWD (n = 8). There was a significant reduction in social support service usage since the outbreak. Thematic analysis identified three overarching themes: (1) Loss of control; (2) Uncertainty; (3) Adapting and having to adapt to the new normal. Carers and PLWD were greatly affected by the sudden removal of social support services, and concerned about when services would re-open. Carers were worried about whether the person they cared for would still be able to re-join social support services. PLWD and carers need to receive specific practical and psychological support during the pandemic to support their well-being, which is severely affected by public health restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High demand for health services is an issue of current importance in England, in part because of the rapidly increasing use of emergency departments (EDs) and GP practices for mental health conditions and the high cost of these services.Aim: To examine the social determinants of health service use in people with mental health issues.Design and Setting: Twenty-eight neighbourhoods, each with a population of 5000-10 000 people, in the north west coast of England with differing levels of deprivation.Method: A comprehensive public health survey was conducted, comprising questions on housing, physical health, mental health, lifestyle, social issues, environment, work, and finances. Poisson regression models assessed the effect of mental health comorbidity, mental and physical health comorbidity, and individual mental health symptoms on ED and general practice attendances, adjusting for relevant socioeconomic and lifestyle factors.Results: Participants who had both a physical and mental health condition reported attending the ED (rate ratio [RR] = 4.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.86 to 7.51) and general practice (RR = 3.82, 95% CI = 3.16 to 4.62) more frequently than all other groups. Having a higher number of mental health condition symptoms was associated with higher general practice and ED service use. Depression was the only mental health condition symptom that was significantly associated with ED attendance (RR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.90), and anxiety was the only symptom significantly associated with GP attendance (RR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.38).Conclusion: Mental health comorbidities increase the risk of attendances to both EDs and general practice. Further research into the social attributes that contribute to reduced ED and general practice attendance rates is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a study aiming to establish the intrinsic value of involvement in a co-design, place-making workshop, we engaged participants in a vision-led development of the grounds and immediate parkland setting of a run-down Grade II listed Mansion House in South Liverpool. Two groups of volunteers engaged in 6 × 90-min co-design workshop sessions spaced equally over 6 weeks, forming part of a cross-over design that compared the intrinsic value and wellbeing benefits of shared reading to place-making. The sessions aimed to develop place-making confidence, place-appraisal skills and design-thinking in the participants and to propose aims, objectives and a vision that supported the ethos of the social enterprise that was developing the property. Data collected using post-it notes, limited voice recording and subsequent interview was qualitatively analysed and considered alongside quantitative analysis using standardised and bespoke realistic procedures. The findings suggest that the workshop activities supported changes to psychological and community wellbeing by enhancing both a sense of personal growth and a collective sense of place-related optimism. We therefore assert that the practice of co-design place-making has potential to develop mental and social capital by reconnecting people to place and communities to neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of seeing one's own face in a mirror is a common experience in daily life. Visual feedback from a mirror is linked to a sense of identity. We developed a procedure that allowed individuals to watch their own face, as in a normal mirror, or with specific distortions (lag) for active movement or passive touch. By distorting visual feedback while the face is being observed on a screen, we document an illusion of reduced embodiment. Participants made mouth movements, while their forehead was touched with a pen. Visual feedback was either synchronous (simultaneous) with reality, as in a mirror, or asynchronous (delayed). Asynchronous feedback was exclusive to touch or movement in different conditions and incorporated both in a third condition. Following stimulation, participants rated their perception of the face in the mirror, and perception of their own face, on questions that tapped into agency and ownership. Results showed that perceptions of both agency and ownership were affected by asynchrony. Effects related to agency, in particular, were moderated by individual differences in depersonalisation and auditory hallucination-proneness, variables with theoretical links to embodiment. The illusion presents a new way of investigating the extent to which body representations are malleable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction.A preliminary cognitive model of grandiose delusions has been put forward suggesting that persecutory and grandiose delusions shared distinct, yet overlapping psychological processes. This study aims to test this model and hypothesises that participants experiencing grandiose delusions may demonstrate a theory of mind (ToM) impairment and differences in attributional style compared to a control group. Methods.A cross-sectional design compared the performance of 18 individuals with grandiose delusions to a control group of 14 participants with depression. ToM was measured using a non-verbal joke appreciation task and a verbal stories task. Attributional style was measured using the internal, personal and situational attributions questionnaire. Results.Participants experiencing grandiose delusions performed significantly worse on both ToM tasks compared to controls. Furthermore, these participants provided significantly more atypical answers when explaining the joke behind the ToM cartoons. No differences for subjective funniness ratings or attributional style were found. Conclusions.This preliminary study indicated participants experiencing grandiose delusions have ToM impairments which may contribute to the maintenance of this symptom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]