[The development of an mHealth app with young people in mental health care using Agile; a practical experiment]. / Agile ontwikkelen van een m-healthapp met jongeren in de ggz: een praktijk-experiment.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, many mobile health (mHealth) apps have been developed to support diagnostics and treatment, among other purposes. It is likely that involving patients closely in the development process will lead to more relevant apps. In theory, the Agile style of software development can make this possible. However, whether this is feasible in mental healthcare practice has never been investigated.
AIM: To investigate whether it is possible in practice to develop an mHealth app together with young people in a highly specialized mental healthcare context, by using Agile.
METHOD: A proof-of-concept study that seeks to develop an mHealth app by implementing Agile together with clinically admitted, young psychiatric patients. Patients would directly influence the development goals and priorities.
RESULTS: In the period from May to July 2019 the app 'Constant Circles' has been developed using Agile together with patients. The main focus of this app is social support. The patients supplied 18 concrete user stories and also provided feedback with general principles for developing an mHealth app.
CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that it is possible to closely involve patients in highly specialized mental health care in the development process of an mHealth app by using Agile.

[How do adolescent inpatients experience seclusion and other coercive measures?]. / Hoe beleven opgenomen adolescenten separatie en andere vormen van dwang?

BACKGROUND: The reduction of coercive measures in psychiatry, particularly of seclusion, is considered to be a matter of some urgency. When policy changes with regard to coercive measures are being considered, the wishes and preferences of patients should be taken into account. Up till now, however, there have not been any studies that have examined how adolescent inpatients feel about coercive measures. AIM: To examine the way adolescent inpatients feel about seclusion and other forms of coercive measures. METHOD: Adolescent inpatients in a Dutch centre for orthopsychiatry (n = 34) were asked about their experiences with and their thoughts on coercive measures in general and on seclusion in particular. RESULTS: Thirty-two respondents took part. More than half of the 18 adolescents who had had prior experiences of coercive measures preferred seclusion to involuntary medication. CONCLUSION: Policy-makers who want to reduce coercive measures in psychiatry should not focus primarily on the reduction of seclusion. Patient preferences, which vary depending on the nature of the patient population, need to be considered carefully and taken into account.

[Clients using the youth mental health services in The Hague are not an ethnic reflection of the youth of that city; bias not by social economic status but by ethnic origin]. / Cliënten Haagse jeugd-ggz geen etnische afspiegeling van de jeugd van de stad; niet door sociaaleconomische status, maar door etnische herkomst.

BACKGROUND: Young people who are born outside the Netherlands (or have at least one parent born outside the Netherlands) make less use of the mental health services than one might expect. AIM: To find out whether the under-use of these services is related to the average income or to the ethnic composition of the districts concerned. METHOD: The relationship between average income, ethnic composition and the percentage of youth treated per district was analysed on the basis of postal codes. RESULTS: The ethnic composition of the district was related to the percentage of young persons using the mental health services, but the average income was not. CONCLUSION: On the basis of district variables, the under-use of the youth mental health services was found to be an ethnic or cultural problem, not a poverty problem.