Experiences of a peer group for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder: A qualitative interview study.

There is a notable lack of literature evaluating peer support for people with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Peer-led groups have been shown to positively impact outcomes related to empowerment, hope, and self-efficacy beliefs for consumers diagnosed with serious mental illness and may also be a helpful option for those experiencing personality disorder symptoms. We outline the coproduction of a peer group for people with a lived experience of BPD and a qualitative analysis of feedback post-group participation. Twenty-two consumers participated in post-group interviews and described their experiences of peer support. Interview transcripts were coded, and three main themes were identified: growth and change, connection and feeling understood, and creating safety. The findings suggested that participation in a coproduced peer support group for people with a diagnosis of BPD facilitated positive personal transformation as well as opportunities to develop connection through shared experiences in a safe environment grounded in mutuality. These themes were particularly powerful for participants because they countered previous experiences of not feeling safe, understood, or equal when seeking treatment. These findings support the acceptability of implementing a coproduced group for people diagnosed with BPD in a community mental health setting.

Building chronic disease management capacity in General Practice: The South Australian GP Plus Practice Nurse Initiative.

AIM: This paper draws on the implementation experience of the South Australian GP Plus Practice Nurse Initiative in order to establish what is needed to support the development of the chronic disease management role of practice nurses. BACKGROUND: The Initiative was delivered between 2007 and 2010 to recruit, train and place 157 nurses across 147 General Practices in Adelaide. The purpose was to improve chronic disease management in General Practice, by equipping nurses to work as practice nurses who would coordinate care and establish chronic disease management systems. METHOD: Secondary analysis of qualitative data contained in the Initiative evaluation report, specifically drawing on quarterly project records and four focus groups conducted with practice nurses, practice nurse coordinators and practice nurse mentors. FINDINGS: As evidenced by the need to increase the amount of support provided during the implementation of the Initiative, nurses new to General Practice faced challenges in their new role. Nurses described a big learning curve as they dealt with role transition to a new work environment and learning a range of new skills while developing chronic disease management systems. Informants valued the skills development and support offered by the Initiative, however the ongoing difficulties in implementing the role suggested that change is also needed at the level of the Practice. While just over a half of the placement positions were retained, practice nurses expressed concern with having to negotiate the conditions of their employment. CONCLUSION: In order to advance the role of practice nurses as managers of chronic disease support is needed at two levels. At one level support is needed to assist practice nurses to build their own skills. At the level of the Practice, and in the wider health workforce system, support is also needed to ensure that Practices are organisationally ready to include the practice nurse within the practice team.

How is Primary Health Care conceptualised in nursing in Australia? A review of the literature.

Australia, in common with many other countries, is expanding the role of Primary Health Care (PHC) to manage the growing burden of chronic disease and prevent hospitalisation. Australia's First National Primary Health Care Strategy released in 2010 places general practice at the centre of care delivery, reflecting a constitutional division of labour in which the Commonwealth government's primary means of affecting care delivery in this sector is through rebates for services delivered from the universal healthcare system Medicare. A review of Australian nursing literature was undertaken for 2006-2011. This review explores three issues in relation to these changes: How PHC is conceptualised within Australian nursing literature; who is viewed as providing PHC; and barriers and enablers to the provision of comprehensive PHC. A review of the literature suggests that the terms 'PHC' and 'primary care' are used interchangeably and that PHC is now commonly associated with services provided by practice nurses. Four structural factors are identified for a shift away from comprehensive PHC, namely fiscal barriers, educational preparation for primary care practice, poor role definition and interprofessional relationships. The paper concludes that while moves towards increasing capacity in general practice have enhanced nursing roles, current policy and the nature of private business funding alongside some medical opposition limit opportunities for Australian nurses working in general practice.

Working around a contested diagnosis: borderline personality disorder in adolescence.

This discourse analytic study sits at the intersection of everyday communications with young people in mental health settings and the enduring sociological critique of diagnoses in psychiatry. The diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is both contested and stigmatized, in mental health and general health settings. Its legitimacy is further contested within the specialist adolescent mental health setting. In this setting, clinicians face a quandary regarding the application of adult diagnostic criteria to an adolescent population, aged less than 18 years. This article presents an analysis of interviews undertaken with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) clinicians in two publicly funded Australian services, about their use of the BPD diagnosis. In contrast with notions of primacy of diagnosis or of transparency in communications, doctors, nurses and allied health clinicians resisted and subverted a diagnosis of BPD in their work with adolescents. We delineate specific social and discursive strategies that clinicians displayed and reflected on, including: team rules which discouraged diagnostic disclosure; the lexical strategy of hedging when using the diagnosis; the prohibition and utility of informal 'borderline talk' among clinicians; and reframing the diagnosis with young people. For clinicians, these strategies legitimated their scepticism and enabled them to work with diagnostic uncertainty, in a population identified as vulnerable. For adolescent identities, these strategies served to forestall a BPD trajectory, allowing room for troubled adolescents to move and grow. These findings illuminate how the contest surrounding this diagnosis in principle is expressed in everyday clinical practice.