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To help reduce physical injuries and improve mental health, Esso Australia has partnered with a seasoned wellness coach on a ‘Fit for Work, Healthy for Life’ program for the offshore workforce. Creating a health and wellbeing ‘game of life plan’ for an imperfect world, tailored to the challenges of offshore work to support personnel to perform at their best in all facets of life, at each stage of life, with a strong focus on being in the right head space to succeed. Key aspects are learning, eating, sleeping, connecting, injury prevention training, procrastination, instant gratification and mental health. Central to making any behavioural changes is individual engagement and making time to listen, which is being achieved through a real-world approach, discussing everyday challenges and normalising personal conversations combined with coaching on how to spark and manage difficult conversations to solve issues and concerns. As ‘no one t-shirt fits everyone’, we need to take diverse approaches, understanding that we are different, genetically, emotionally, physically and psychologically. ‘Listening to your body’ is a strategy discussed during the sessions that enables people to understand and act on potentially unrecognised mental or physical signs their body may be presenting. Since being rolled out to the offshore Esso workforce in the second quarter of 2021, the positive feedback from both a physical and mental health perspective from the participants has been overwhelming, with a common theme of healthy body, healthy mind shining through!

Poster ESG9 To help reduce physical injuries and improve mental health, Esso Australia has partnered with a seasoned wellness coach on a ‘Fit for Work, Healthy for Life’ program for the offshore workforce. Creating a health and wellbeing ‘game of life plan’ for an imperfect world, tailored to the challenges of offshore work to support personnel to perform at their best in all facets of life, at each stage of life, with a strong focus on being in the right head space to succeed. Key aspects are learning, eating, sleeping, connecting, injury prevention training, procrastination, instant gratification and mental health. Central to making any behavioural changes is individual engagement and making time to listen, which is being achieved through a real-world approach, discussing everyday challenges and normalising personal conversations combined with coaching on how to spark and manage difficult conversations to solve issues and concerns. As ‘no one t-shirt fits everyone’, we need to take diverse approaches, understanding that we are different, genetically, emotionally, physically and psychologically. ‘Listening to your body’ is a strategy discussed during the sessions that enables people to understand and act on potentially unrecognised mental or physical signs their body may be presenting. Since being rolled out to the offshore Esso workforce in the second quarter of 2021, the positive feedback from both a physical and mental health perspective from the participants has been overwhelming, with a common theme of healthy body, healthy mind shining through! To access the poster click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here

BackgroundWeaknesses in the provision of mental health crisis support are evident and improvements that include voluntary sector provision are promoted. There is a lack of evidence regarding the contribution of the voluntary sector and how this might be used to the best effect in mental health crisis care.AimTo investigate the contribution of voluntary sector organisations to mental health crisis care in England.DesignMultimethod sequential design with a comparative case study.SettingEngland, with four case studies in North England, East England, the Midlands and London.MethodThe method included a scoping literature review, a national survey of 1612 voluntary sector organisations, interviews with 27 national stakeholders and detailed mapping of the voluntary sector organisation provision in two regions (the north and south of England) to develop a taxonomy of voluntary sector organisations and to select four case studies. The case studies examined voluntary sector organisation crisis care provision as a system through interviews with local stakeholders (n = 73), eight focus groups with service users and carers and, at an individual level, narrative interviews with service users (n = 47) and carers (n = 12) to understand their crisis experience and service journey. There was extensive patient and public involvement in the study, including service users as co-researchers, to ensure validity. This affected the conduct of the study and the interpretation of the findings. The quality and the impact of the involvement was evaluated and commended.Main findingsA mental health crisis is considered a biographical disruption. Voluntary sector organisations can make an important contribution, characterised by a socially oriented and relational approach. Five types of relevant voluntary sector organisations were identified: (1) crisis-specific, (2) general mental health, (3) population-focused, (4) life-event-focused and (5) general social and community voluntary sector organisations. These voluntary sector organisations provide a range of support and have specific expertise. The availability and access to voluntary sector organisations varies and inequalities were evident for rural communities; black, Asian and minority ethnic communities; people who use substances; and people who identified as having a personality disorder. There was little evidence of well-developed crisis systems, with an underdeveloped approach to prevention and a lack of ongoing support.LimitationsThe survey response was low, reflecting the nature of voluntary sector organisations and demands on their time. This was a descriptive study, so evaluating outcomes from voluntary sector organisation support was beyond the scope of the study.ConclusionsThe current policy discourse frames a mental health crisis as an urgent event. Viewing a mental health crisis as a biographical disruption would better enable a wide range of contributory factors to be considered and addressed. Voluntary sector organisations have a distinctive and important role to play. The breadth of this contribution needs to be acknowledged and its role as an accessible alternative to inpatient provision prioritised.Future workA whole-system approach to mental health crisis provision is needed. The NHS, local authorities and the voluntary sector should establish how to effectively collaborate to meet the local population’s needs and to ensure the sustainability of the voluntary sector. Service users and carers from all communities need to be central to this.FundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme and will be published in full inHealth Services and Delivery Research; Vol. 8, No. 29. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Crisis theory suggests that in addition to presenting a threat to mental well-being, crises are also opportunities where successful interventions can lead to successful outcomes. UK mental health crisis teams aim to reduce hospital admission by treating people at home and by building resilience and supporting learning from crisis, yet data on repeat crisis episodes suggest this could be improved. This qualitative study sought to explore the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) as a means of supporting resilience-building and maximising the opportunity potential of crisis. The following themes emerged: The meaning of crisis; Engaging with the WRAP process; WRAP and self-management; and Changes and transformations. This research suggests that WRAP has potential in supporting recovery from crisis, revealing insights into the nature of crisis which can inform the further development of crisis services.

Eleven patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma were treated with whole body hyperthermia (41.8 degrees C-43.0 degrees C) for 2 hours, doxorubicin (45 mg/m2) at the beginning of peak temperature and cyclophosphamide (1000 mg/m2) 6 hours after doxorubicin. Warming was accomplished with a nylon and vinyl mesh water perfused suit and heating blankets under barbiturate anesthesia. Thirty-five thermochemotherapy treatments were administered after an initial baseline euthermic course. There were two complete and two partial responses including three of three liposarcomas and one of two leiomyosarcomas, and there were two disease stabilizations . Morbidity included anasarca, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, myalgias, mild surface burns, perioral herpes simplex, reversible neuropathy, hypotension, and cardiac arrythmias . Hyperglycemia and hypophosphatemia were found during heating, and normalized at 24 hours. Liver enzyme elevations occurred 24 hours after heating and normalized within 1 week. A uniform platelet decrease (mean, 107,000/microliter) was found at 24 hours. Thermochemotherapy was found to be a feasible approach for selected patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma for the subset of liposarcomas and leiomyosarcomas.