Research

     New! DCU in research collaboration with Amnesty Ireland

  

OCD Ireland would like to draw your attention to the research project described below. We believe the research output of this project can make a real difference towards highlighting and reducing discrimination against sufferers of OCD, TTM and BDD as well as other mental health conditions in general. This is YOUR chance to have your say and help change public perception. We strongly encourage people to participate in this study.

Brian Davis
Director OCD Ireland

The School of Nursing, Dublin City University in collaboration with Amnesty Ireland are conducting a research project on Mental Health and Discrimination. This project is investigating the experience of discrimination as reported by people with mental health difficulties in their daily lives. In particular it will examine overt and covert discrimination, self discrimination; and the impact of discrimination on participant's lives; identifying to what extent discrimination is related to their mental health difficulties. The project requires involvement of people who have or had mental health difficulties, as researchers and participants. This is in keeping with the research methodology Participatory Action Research. The research team are currently recruiting volunteers to take part in the study, which consists of a short face-to-face interview. If you are interested in hearing more about this study or think your might like to participate by sharing your experience, DCU would like to hear form you. Please note involvement in the study is peer-led, completely confidential and there are support networks in place for participants.
If you are interested in participation, please contact: Muriel Redmond Tel: 01 700 7923 or email: muriel.redmond@dcu.ie Please leave (a) your full name (b) your contact phone number and (c) your county or geographical location with Muriel or on her voicemail if outside office hours.

See attached poster for more details here(PowerPoint and PDF File).

      NEW!OCD Week (6th - 13th February 2010)

OCD Week (6th - 13th February 2010) is a week of engaging, informing and inspiring events for people affected by OCD. It will be running a series of on-line seminars, a host of awareness raising events and two major conferences: London (6th February 2010) and Manchester (13th February 2010). For more information visit http://www.ocdweek.org or call the OCD Action office on 0044 (0)20 7253 5272.

      Upcomming Mindfulness based CBT course!

A Mindfulness based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy course will run from 21st July 09 until 08 September 09. The course will be provided by Debbie Van Tonder, BA ed, admin, RN, RCN, RPN, RM at St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin. For further details click here (Word Doc,PDF)

      Lecture Notes on Mindfulness.

On the 22nd of April 2009, Debbie Van Tonder, BA ed, admin, RN, RCN, RPN, RM provided a public lecture introducing Mindfulness and its application to OCD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Trichotillomania (TTM/Trich) at St Patrick's Hospital on behalf of OCD Ireland. The lecture notes can be downloaded here (Word Doc),

How to evaluate Health Information on the Internet- Fact vs Fiction

Visit FDA evaluation guidelines - here

Evidence based Health Care in Ireland and the Cochrane Review

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international non-profit and independent organisation, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare readily available worldwide. It produces and disseminates systematic reviews of healthcare interventions and makes those reviews available as The Cochrane Library. Since 2002, all this information has been available free of charge throughout the island of Ireland via the Internet through an initiative co-funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Research and Development Office (RDO) in Northern Ireland.

The Cochrane Library provides a wealth of information to assist healthcare professionals make evidence based decisions. The information is also available in non-technical summaries for patients.

HRB launches Cochrane Training Courses and Cochrane Fellowships

Individuals working in the health and social care area are invited to apply for a Cochrane Fellowship or Cochrane Training Course. The Cochrane Collaboration is an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare interventions readily available worldwide. It produces and disseminates systematic reviews of healthcare interventions in over 50 topic areas and makes them available as The Cochrane Library. In 2002, Ireland became the first country in the world to provide free national access to the Cochrane Library, an initiative co-funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Research and Development Office in Northern Ireland. A number of other countries have since followed our leadership thus extending the scope of the Cochrane Library. Applications are now being sought for:

1. The Cochrane Fellowships 2009

The Fellowship provides the Fellow with protected time of up to two days per week for up to two years to conduct their review. Fellows also receive intensive and continuous training as part of the Fellowship (provided by UK Cochrane Centre Training Unit). The closing date is 29th May 2009. Full information on the Cochrane Fellowships is available on the HRB website by clicking here.
2. The Cochrane Training / Career Development Courses

These short courses will be conducted on a number of dates in 2009 in various centres across Ireland. Two types of course are provided:

A half day 'Introduction to Cochrane' aimed at training people with little or no previous experience to access and use the Cochrane Library.

An intensive two-day 'Cochrane Systematic Review Course' aimed at covering systematic review methodologies and critical appraisal skills.

Applications for these free training courses must be made through the HRB online eGrants system. The closing date is 3pm on Friday, 27th March 2009. Full information is available on the Cochrance Training Courses is available on the HRB website by clicking here.

      Focus Groups...

In Ireland young people who use mental health services have not been given a voice to really influence improvements in service provision. This is about to change. New services for young people are to be developed and government policy requires the involvement of service-users at all levels of planning.

This offers a unique opportunity for young people who have had personal experience of mental health services to shape the services of the future. Based on direct experience, young people are ideally placed to give feedback and make suggestions as to how things can and should change. Parents too, who have attended services with their child, will have a vital perspective on how to change things for the better.

In light of this, we (a group of mental health professionals) have come together to highlight the views of young people and their parents. For this purpose any young person who is currently attending services or has done so in the past is invited to contact us (see contact details below) to take part in a Focus Group session to share their ideas. Parents are invited to attend a separate group. We also plan to contact those who have never come into contact with services, to see what their attitudes are and what would make them more likely to consider accessing help if the need arose.

Each participant will be asked to attend on one occasion only. A number of focus groups will be held so that participants can choose a convenient time and location. Everything in the group is strictly confidential. Groups will be run by experienced and sympathetic mental health professionals who believe passionately in this process.

Anyone interested in participating should contact us and will be sent an information leaflet in advance, detailing the general topics that we would hope to discuss. In the case of young people under 18, parental consent will be required.

When we have gathered all the information, we will give all participants feedback on ideas that have emerged. We will write a report and circulate it to all groups who have a role to play in the development of mental health services. We will circulate our findings to the general media in addition to academic journals. By circulating your ideas as widely as possible we aim to give the strongest representation we can to young people who have experienced mental health difficulties.

We very much value your opinions and would encourage as many people as possible to contribute. The more people that are involved the greater potential for everyone's voice to be heard. It is crucial for us to get your perspective on services: what works, what doesn't work and how to make services more accessible and youth-friendly

We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact Sarah/Blanaid at: focusyouth@gmail.com for further information.

      Research Links...

'OCD Action' OCD Research
'OCD UK' OCD Research