Contemporary public perceptions of psychiatry: some problems for mental health professions

The Professional Identity of Social Workers in Mental Health Services: A Scoping Review

Recent research into the role of mental health social work has identified a need for increased critical engagement with accounts of professional role and identity. Notably, a number of studies have found that social workers struggle to articulate their role within mental health teams and services. This study aimed to identify the ways in which social workers in mental health settings defined their professional identity and role. An international scoping review utilizing Arksey and O'Malley's method was conducted, identifying 35 papers published between 1997 and 2022. A thematic analysis grouped the findings into three predominant themes: (i) distinct social work approaches to mental health, (ii) organizational negotiations for mental health social workers, and (iii) professional negotiations for mental health social workers. These thematic findings are discussed in relation to existing research and critical perspectives, with particular emphasis on accounts of the bureaucratic and ideological functioning of professionalism in mental health services, as well as the global direction of mental health policy. This review finds that mental health social work embodies a coherent identity that aligns with international mental health policy agendas but faces significant challenges in developing and expressing this identity within mental health services.

Standing out on the Margins: Using Dialogical Narrative Analysis to Explore Mental Health Student Nurse Identity Construction and Core Modules

Literature and experience suggest that student mental health nurses feel marginalised in core modules. A focus group was held to explore mental health nurse students' experiences of whole cohort core modules in nursing. Students from a university in the North of England attended a one hour focus group followed by dialogical narrative analysis of transcripts. Stories of shared professional identity, marginal status, critical thinking, and practical application of theory were shared by the group. Greater presence of mental health stakeholders earlier in the programme and more applied field specific teaching offer a means to bolster professional identity in mental health nursing students.

Models of mental health problems: a quasi-systematic review of theoretical approaches

BACKGROUND

Mental health and mental illness have been contested concepts for decades, with a wide variety of models being proposed. To date, there has been no exhaustive review that provides an overview of existing models.

AIM

To conduct a quasi-systematic review of theoretical models of mental health problems.

METHODS

We searched academic databases, reference lists, and an electronic bookshop for literature that proposed, endorsed, reviewed, or critiqued such models. Papers, book chapters, and books were included with material by researchers, clinicians, non-medical professions, and service users writing between 2000 to June 2020 being considered. The study was registered with the Open Science Framework (No. osf.io/r3tjx).

RESULTS

Based on 110 publications, we identified 34 different models which were grouped into five broader categories. Many models bridged two or more categories. Biological and psychological approaches had the largest number of models while social, consumer and cultural models were less diversified. Due to the non-empirical nature of the publications, several limitations in terms of search and quality appraisal apply.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that mental health care needs to acknowledge the diversity of theoretical models on mental health problems.