ABSTRACT
PurposePrisons are uniquely challenging working environments. Staff are often exposed to direct and indirect trauma, impacting negatively on their mental well-being. Due to the limited research into prison staff experience, this paper aims to explore what staff find most challenging, how they cope, what support they would like and rewarding aspects of their work.Design/methodology/approachThis service development project was facilitated through a staff well-being event. A qualitative approach was used and 74 staff members provided anonymised responses. An inductive and data-driven approach was used to analyse the data, and the trustworthiness of the analysis was considered using criteria established by Lincoln and Guba (1985).FindingsThematic analysis identified six themes, namely, the challenging nature of the work, interactions with prisoners, staff interactions, inadequate resources, staff support and development and coping strategies. Key findings include managing distress, self-harm and violence and limited resources presenting challenges. Role variety and opportunities to support prisoners were reported as positive. A variety of coping strategies were identified. Wider availability of supervision and reflective practice was suggested by staff.Practical implicationsRecommendations for increased staff support are made. Suggestions for future research investigating methods to increase rewarding aspects of work within prisons are given.Originality/valueThis analysis adds to the limited body of qualitative research investigating prison staff experiences;in particular, aspects of the work that they find rewarding such as the role variety and opportunities to make positive changes to prisoners’ lives. Novel coping strategies were identified, including cognitive reframing and behavioural strategies for managing stress, which could be encouraged to increase resilience.
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Jeon et al (pp. 344–351) explored a Korean patient database, incorporating everyone who received a mental or behavioural disorder diagnosis in the 6 months prior to having an initial COVID-19 test, matching them by age and gender with up to four individuals without a mental health diagnosis. The parents had considerably greater emotional distress than the general population: the child's age, physical disability, autistic characteristics and other behavioural difficulties particularly had an impact, as did difficulties because of a copy number variant (CNV) diagnosis. [...]Kaleidoscope (pp. 355–356) discusses practical steps at reducing racial inequality in the workplace and asks if Twitter is good for more than cat videos.
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AIMS AND METHOD: COVID-19 has forced many educational events to go 'virtual'. We report on the first online student-run National Psychiatry Summer School (NPSS). Evaluation of the online format and content was undertaken through survey feedback from almost 400 attendees. RESULTS: The NPSS positively affected attendees' perceptions of psychiatry as a career choice. The virtual format was positively received, with benefits including breaking down traditional barriers of geography and cost. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Post-COVID-19, a hybrid future of mixed virtual and face-to-face events is likely. Our work shows the viability of this and unique gains it might offer, and offers experiential learning on challenges encountered for others who wish to trial further virtual conferences.
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Warren et al3 note that past experience from vaccination and public health programmes shows that it can be harder to make inroads and address the individual- and system-level barriers in this group. There is evidence that running vaccine clinics alongside standard mental health out-patient services removes some access and transport barriers, and increases uptake. Given the current publishing model, there are broadly three ways this is happening: (a) the journal publishes work at no cost to the producer, charges consumers for the journal (the traditional paywall model) but allows authors to pay a fee for an open access version to be available;(b) the journal only charges the author to publish, and all consumers have access for free;and (c) the journal doesn't charge producers to publish, is accessible by subscription (paywalled), but allows work it has published to be made available in open-access repositories after an ‘embargo’ period to retain added value for paying subscribers. Early-career researchers are encouraged to publish their work in high-prestige (mostly paywalled) journals to attract peer esteem and increase their academic market value – so there is less incentive for the vast majority of emerging academic experts to make their knowledge an open public good, even less so if they have to find funding to make it open access.
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Women in academic publishing and academic psychiatry face many challenges of gender inequality, including significant pay differentials, poor visibility in senior positions and a male-dominated hierarchical system. We discuss this problem and outline how the BJPsych plans to tackle these issues it in its own publishing.
Subject(s)
Gender Equity , Psychiatry , Female , Humans , Male , PublishingABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought untold tragedies. However, one outcome has been the dramatically rapid replacement of face-to-face consultations and other meetings, including clinical multidisciplinary team meetings, with telephone calls or videoconferencing. By and large this form of remote consultation has received a warm welcome from both patients and clinicians. To date, human, technological and institutional barriers may have held back the integration of such approaches in routine clinical practice, particularly in the UK. As we move into the post-pandemic phase, it is vital that academic, educational and clinical leadership builds on this positive legacy of the COVID crisis. Telepsychiatry may be but one component of 'digital psychiatry' but its seismic evolution in the pandemic offers a possible opportunity to embrace and develop 'digital psychiatry' as a whole.