This useful briefing, on the NHS Confederation website, summarises key points from the interim report for Mental Health Network members.  View the briefing.

The Colour Of Madness is an anthology led and curated by BAME people which is made up of fiction, poetry, memoirs, essays and art submitted by BAME writers, academics, mental health workers, artists and those still navigating life with mental health problems. It explores the BAME mental health experience in the UK.…

This book series is a unique  resource to further knowledge and understanding of mental health from a pluralistically informed linguistic perspective.

Using qualitative and quantitative approaches to language-based analysis,…

A mental health documentary exploring people's encounters with psychiatric medication. It is not giving advice. It is giving a voice. Beyond chemicals, how does the idea of medication function on our identities and upon our view of ourselves?…

At the BSA conference in Newcastle last month, the BSA Sociologists outside Academia (SoA) group launched its model curriculum in applied sociology.  This will now be offered free to UK sociology departments, to use within their undergraduate programmes.  It can be downloaded from the curriculum website.

The curriculum is a key element in SoA’s…

The 6th International Authenticity to Action Conference will take place on 5-6 March 2019 at the Grange Hotel, Grange-over-Sands on the theme of: 'Inspiring partnerships in co-producing  professional education and practice development'.

This exciting two-day conference will celebrate the involvement of patients, service users and carers in Health, Social…

The latest issue of Asylum magazine is now out. It opens with an article by @validconsent which underlines the profound challenges involved in the notion of ‘democratic psychiatry’.  How does one provide a safe space for challenging and diverse opinions to be expressed: at a conference; on a psychiatric ward; on social media; or in the pages of amagazine?   Those questions go to the very heart of Asylum’s collective struggle.  They are crucial for those involved…

This free course, Mindfulness in mental health and prison settings, looks at the use of mindfulness in counselling and forensic settings. You will start by learning a bit more about the concept of mindfulness and how it can be understood and applied. You will then consider the different ways in which mindfulness can be integrated into therapy sessions, and what the benefits of these might be. After this, you will explore some of the specific ways in which…

This booklet is part of the Practical Pedagogy series from the Centre for Outcomes-Based Education. The series aims to promote good practice and offer practical advice in learning, teaching and curriculum development.

Download here.

#socialcarefuture is an informal and volunteer-run platform for all wishing to bring about major positive change in what is currently called “social care.”  It is for those who want to take part in imagining, creating and communicating a future where what we currently call social care makes a major contribution to the health, well-being and success of people, communities and our economy –  a future in which the public recognise it as something to be invested in because it is important…

The DiMHN is a not-for-profit, social enterprise company with charitable
aims and is open to anyone with an interest in the design of mental health
facilities. We do mean anyone – from architects to nursing staff, from
building contractors to service users. If you’re interested, and everyone
should be, you’re welcome.

Further details

Is schizophrenia hard science or an arbitrary, catch-all term with no real meaning? What does it mean for those experiencing psychosis?

The film is a series of wide-ranging interviews with voice hearers, medical historians, anthropologists and psychiatrists from Britain and America.

Find out more.

A Fragmented Pathway. Experiences of the South Asian Community and the Dementia Care Pathway: A Care Giver’s Journey demonstrates the reality of what families must go through to get the right care, in the right place, at the right time and challenges the assumption that “they look after their own, don’t they”.

Download here

An Independent Review of the Mental Health Act is in process.  A summary of the work so far has just been published: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-the-mental-health-act-interim-report

Akiko Hart has written a personal…

In the second of the Centre for Mental Health’s series We need to talk about social care, Kim Woodbridge-Dodd looks at the integration of mental health and social care,  the benefits behind this and the challenges faced on the ground.

Find out more.…

#socialcarefuture is an initiative – voluntarily organised – which aims to bring about major positive change in what is currently called “social care”. Those involved will be citizens, people using public services and their families, workers and professionals, managers and politicians. #socialcarefuture is being steered by an informal group and is open to involvement from others wanting to offer ideas, skills and…

An exploration of UK alternatives to psychiatric hospitalisation for people in Mental Health Crisis. Filmed in 2002 by Bryony Rogers. 

View the film…

‘Have you ever wondered what mental healthcare would look like if, knowing what we know today, it could be redesigned from scratch? A New Vision for Mental Health is an innovative website that seeks to answer this question by taking a critical, informed and constructive look at the current mental health system. It explores ideas, insights and suggestions – from a wide range of individuals and organisations – that might, in time, lay the foundations for a new and quite different approach to…