Over the past few years it feels like things have gone backwards. The proportion of patients feeling involved in decisions about their care or treatment has been falling in recent years. There is still good work going on but increasingly we hear from staff who feel powerless to act on what they are hearing and tell us that patient experience is slipping down the agenda both nationally and locally.
The Women in Medicine Carers Network focuses on the specific issues doctor carers face, and have numerous stories of where support was insufficient or non-existent; here is just one.
This review concluded that people living with depression are at considerable risk of internalising negative stereotypes and discrimination associated with depression. Prominent risk factors were identified, including depression symptom severity and stigma-related factors; but protective factors were also identified, such as quality of life and self-esteem.
Avoidable harm in mental health social care - Andie Ashdown summarises a review on service users’ experiences of social and psychological avoidable harm.
Editorial. Although mental health problems are extremely common, stigma is still attached to them, often making them difficult to talk about. Despite women and men experiencing stigma in response to help-seeking for mental health issues, there would appear to be gender-specific influences on men's reluctance to seek help.
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