Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2019 | Page 57

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES
NIHR Signals
be commencing telephone interviews with
members who expressed an interest in being
further involved in the review.
There will be a survey going out to all RCOT
members later in the year. Look out on social
media, in Highlight and on the website for
opportunities to get involved in the review and
share your thoughts, feedback and suggestions.
In the meantime, we are excited to be
hosting two new events in 2020: the Elizabeth
Casson Memorial Lecture, on 21 April; and the
RCOT Members’ Day, on 30 June. For more
information visit: www.rcot.co.uk/node/2309.
There will also be further opportunities
for learning, networking and promoting the
profession, including RCOT roadshows, RCOT
regional and specialist section events, CPD
and conferences. Visit the events page of the
website for more details. police officers working in partnership with mental health professionals. However,
approaches varied between regions.
Police officers appear to value PRMHT, and following training they were more
likely to use health-based places of safety rather than cells and access the
support of mental health professionals. The Signal notes that the evidence was
of mixed quality, and there was little evidence on which approaches work best.
Although some research suggested a reduction in formal detentions, there were
few outcome data reported.
The Signal highlights the potential benefits of closer working partnerships
in helping to effectively target police and NHS resources, and improve health
outcomes for individuals in crisis. However, it suggests that further research is
needed.
Read the full Signal at: https://discover.dc.nihr.ac.uk/content/signal-000809/
mental-health-crisis-support-links-between-police-and-health-services.
In May, we announced the news that RCOT
would be reviewing its annual conference and
that we would be engaging with members to
help us shape the annual conferences of the
future.
The review of our annual flagship event is
now underway, and we want to ensure that
we are delivering the best event to support the
greatest number of our members and to find
out how our flagship event can better suit their
needs.
We are working with an independent
research company, nfpSynergy, which ran
dedicated focus group sessions at this
year’s annual conference, and will shortly
A National Institute for
Health Research (NIHR)
Signal, published on 27
August 2019, will be
of particular interest to
occupational therapists
working in mental health
services.
It focuses on an
NIHR-funded rapid
evidence synthesis
by Rodgers et al
(2019), which assessed studies of police-related mental health triage (PRMHT)
interventions, known as ‘street triage’. Five systematic reviews and 16 primary
studies were included.
The Signal discusses why the study was needed, what was involved and how it
relates to current guidance. Findings included that most PRMHT schemes involved
Reference
Rodgers M, Thomas S, Dalton J, Harden M, Eastwood A (2019) Police-related triage
interventions for mental health-related incidents: a rapid evidence synthesis. Health
Services and Delivery Research, 7(20), 1–194. doi: 10.3310/hsdr07200
RCOT Supplier Directory
Now available on the RCOT website.
Identify products and services that will help you meet
the needs of your service users wherever you are.
Bookmark the Supplier Directory for quick and easy access.
www.rcot.co.uk/supplier-directory
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OTnews October 2019 57
RCOT review of its annual
flagship event: progress to
date