Citation

Foster C, Birch L, Allen S, Rayner G. J. Ment. Health Train. Educ. Pract. 2015; 10(4): 268-280.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing)

DOI

10.1108/JMHTEP-05-2014-0011

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

PURPOSE: This paper outlines a United Kingdom based interdisciplinary workforce development project that had the aim of improving service delivery for children and young people who self-harm or are feeling suicidal. Approach: This innovative practice-higher-education partnershiputilised an iterative consultation process to establish the local workforce need and then facilitated the systematic synthesis and presentation of evidence-based clinical guidelines in a practical format, for staff working directly with young people who self-harm in non-mental health settings. Outcomes: The development, content and structure of this contextualised resourceis presented, along with emerging outcomes and learning from the team.It is anticipated that this may also be a useful strategy and resource for other teams in other areas and is intended to provide a template that can be adapted by other localities to meet the specific needs of their own workforce. Practical Implications: The paper demonstrates how higher education-practice partnershipscan make clinical guidelines and research evidence in a field often thought of as highly specialist,accessible to all staff. It also shows a process of liaison and enhanced understanding across universal/specialist mental health service thresholds.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paperdemonstrates how collaborative partnerships can work to bridge the gap between evidence-based guidelinesand their implementation in practice, through innovative multi-agency initiatives.

KEYWORDS: Self-harm, suicide, children, young people, interdisciplinary, workforce development, risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, mental health, adolescent Paper Type: case study

Language: en