We observed levels of social interaction and activity among in-patients on 16 acute psychiatric wards in 6 hospitals in a large mental health trust. Each ward was observed for 1 week and attendance at organised activities was audited over 3-week periods.

At any time during the day 84% of in-patients were socially disengaged and mainly inactive. On average only 4% of in-patients' time was spent in an organised group activity, with many in-patients opting out altogether. Provision and take-up of group activity programmes varied widely between wards.

Provision of organised activity needs to be a higher priority in acute services, and there should be national and local standards for what should be provided. Concerted organisational strategies and assertive approaches by staff are needed to engage in-patients in group activity programmes.

To evaluate the practical utility and face validity of a new risk assessment guideline, the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START), within a forensic mental health service. Staff attended training and subsequently used the START to assess and formulate risk. Staff then completed an evaluation questionnaire about their experiences of using the START.

The study proved useful in evaluating the practical utility and face validity of the START. the START demonstrated both good practical utility and face validity. Areas of difficulty in completing the START were identified and areas for developing the START were highlighted.

The service subsequently implemented a revised version of the START into routine practice. the results of the pilot study suggest that the START can usefully assist in structuring risk judgements in practice.

To describe implementation of crisis resolution/home treatment (CRHT) teams in England, examine obstacles to implementation and priorities for development. We conducted an online survey followed by a telephone or face-to-face interview among 243 teams.

Considerable progress has been made in implementation with a subset of teams demonstrating strong fidelity to the Department of Health's guidance, particularly in urban settings. However, only 40% of teams described themselves as fully established. Many teams reported a high assessment load, understaffing, limited multidisciplinary input and patchy fulfilment of their gate-keeping role.

Successful implementation of the CRHT teams as alternatives to hospital admission requires resources for home treatment out of hours, effective systems working among local services, stronger local understanding and advocacy of the teams' role.

We evaluated the impact of implementing the individual placement and support (IPS) approach within eight community mental health teams (CMHTs) in two London boroughs. Demographic, clinical and vocational data were collected enabling a comparison of the number of people supported in work/education and individual client outcomes at 6 and 12 months.

Following the integration of employment specialists there were significant increases in the number and proportion of clients engaged in mainstream work or educational activity at 6 months and 12 months. The employment specialists supported 38% in open employment at 6 months and 39% at 12 months.

The results support the use of IPS in clinical practice in CMHTs.

Computerised self-help psychotherapies are fast becoming part of psychiatric practice. The aim of the study was to assess potential user preferences for the delivery of self-help psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and phobic anxiety disorders. A postal survey was undertaken of enquirers responding to a teletext article on self-help psychotherapies for OCD and agoraphobia. Subjects were asked their preferences for the delivery of self-help services for anxiety disorders, their acceptance or refusal of general practitioner (GP) referrals for such therapy, and how much they would be willing to pay for such a service.

Of 326 questionnaires sent out 113 completed questionnaires were returned (35%). Twenty-seven per cent of respondents did not wish to access such services via their GP, 91% wanted access via a computer system and respondents were willing to pay an average of $10 per computer session (range 0–100).

Computerised self-help psychotherapies for OCD, phobic anxiety disorders and depression are becoming part of everyday clinical practice. This may be the first survey directly asking potential users about their preferred access to self-help psychotherapies for anxiety disorders. A significant proportion of responders did not wish to go via their GP to receive therapy and the vast majority welcomed therapy delivered by some form of computer system.

Adolescents presenting with self-harm have poor adherence to community follow-up. Poor adherence is a principal obstacle to treatment delivery and is associated with poor psychosocial outcomes. Therapeutic assessment is a novel method of assessing adolescents with self-harm. We compared therapeutic assessment with assessment as usual in a pilot study of 38 adolescents referred for psychosocial assessment following self-harm.

Significantly more adolescents assessed with therapeutic assessment than with usual assessment attended the first community follow-up appointment (75% v. 40%, χ2=3.89, P < 0.05) and engaged with services (62% v. 30% χ2=4.49, P < 0.05).

Young people assessed using therapeutic assessment may be more likely to engage with community follow-up. A therapeutic intervention at the time of the initial assessment might be necessary to enable future therapeutic work.

The study examined the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in people with HIV/AIDS attending the AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) clinic at Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda and the preparedness of AIDS counsellors to deal with mental disorders. Forty-six patients were interviewed using the Mini International Psychiatric Interview to ascertain DSM–IV diagnoses. All 15 counsellors working at the clinic were interviewed.

The total prevalence of psychiatric disorder was 82.6 (38 out of 46 patients). Depressive and anxiety disorders were common. Non-affective psychoses were present in eight patients (17.4%), bipolar affective disorder in eight (17.4%) and major depression with melancholic features in five (10.9%); 8 (13%) had current suicidal thoughts. None of the people with psychiatric disorders were receiving mental health treatment. The prevalence of disorder as estimated by the counsellors ranged from 0 to 33%. Only one counsellor had received any formal training in mental disorders and only two thought that they could deal with these if they arose. The attitudes of counsellors towards people with mental disorders were mixed, but most believed that they should be trained to provide care.

There is a need to provide additional mental health services to the TASO clinic through appropriate training of TASO counsellors to improve their awareness of psychiatric disorders, delivery of some psychological therapies and liaison with the psychiatric services at Mulago Hospital, in addition to public mental health education. The psychiatric disorders experienced by those attending the clinic might put them at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

This study aimed to establish the variations in the pre-defined aspects of postgraduate psychiatric training within the member countries of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees and illustrate the diversity of training experiences within Europe. Participants were required to complete a structured questionnaire.

There are wide variations in the length, content and structure of postgraduate psychiatric training across Europe. There are differing requirements for, and access to, psychotherapy training. Some countries have no examinations or formal assessments.

An understanding of the postgraduate training systems across Europe is essential not only for making informed choices about the development of trainees recruited from the European Economic Area but also for enhancing postgraduate training and patient care in all European countries.

Media portrayals of mental illness have long been recognised as being misleading and stigmatising. Following the campaigns of several advocacy groups to address this issue, we aimed to evaluate the impact on mental health reporting over time. We repeated a survey we did 15 years ago using the same methods. Nine UK daily newspapers were surveyed over a 4-week period and coded with a schema to analyse the reporting of mental health compared with physical health.

In total, 963 articles – 200 on mental health and 763 on physical health – were identified. Over half of the articles on mental health were negative in tone: 18.5% indicated an association with violence compared with 0.3% of articles on physical health. However, there were more quotes from patients with mental disorders than physical disorders (22.5% v. 19.7%) and an equal mention of treatment and rehabilitation.

Mental health in print media remains tainted by themes of violence, however some improvement in reporting in recent years is evident, in particular by providing a voice for people with mental illness.

A survey of staff perceptions of illicit drug use among in-patients in a medium secure unit.

Sixty per cent of staff were aware of drug misuse on the unit. While 82% commented on the potential adverse effects of illicit substances on patient psychopathology, 45% were also concerned about the negative impact on the staff–patient relationships. Most (82%) staff cite personal enjoyment as the main reason for drug-taking behaviour and perceive drug use on the unit as a form of antisocial behaviour. Less than one-third of staff were clear about the unit's policy for dealing with in-patient drug use and few have had adequate training in the management of patients with dual diagnoses. Strategies for dealing with drug misuse appear to focus on security rather than therapeutic issues.

Services need to provide adequate training for staff on the management of patients with comorbid substance misuse, introduce patient education programmes and develop and disseminate clear policies that emphasise both therapy and security.