ANNUAL REVIEW master Final3a - St Vincent's University Hospital
ANNUAL REVIEW master Final3a - St Vincent's University Hospital
ANNUAL REVIEW master Final3a - St Vincent's University Hospital
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<strong>St</strong>. Vincent’s Healthcare Group Limited - Annual Review 2007<br />
Department - Old Age Psychiatry<br />
and relatives to discuss assessments and treatment plans. Research and audit of this initiative are planned<br />
to be an integral part of this programme and additional staff will be required to implement it in full.<br />
The database, developed by the Health Research Board and introduced into the Department in 2006 under<br />
the supervision of Dr. Aideen Freyne, has been successfully generating data regarding service activity. Ms<br />
Antoinette Copley has played a major role in the organisation of the programme and Ms Debbie Connolly<br />
has been trained in its use. It is planned that additional staff will be trained to manage this data base.<br />
The social workers on the team are developing a carer support programme in addition to the existing carer<br />
information groups which are run 4 times per year. They are continually updating the information document<br />
on services for older people so that it represents a comprehensive guide to community support services,<br />
long-term care options and legal issues relevant to older persons.<br />
The community mental health nurses play a pivotal role in the assessment and follow-up of our patients<br />
across the whole spectrum of the service. They are involved also in co-ordinating the effective running of the<br />
specialist Lithium Clinic with a specific nurse allocated to the service, involvement in the Anxiety and Healthy<br />
Ageing Groups and providing clinical input to the Nursing Homes of the catchment area and teaching input<br />
in the Nursing Home education programme. They have also been actively involved in training in dementia<br />
care mapping and training in the management of enduring mental illness.<br />
Dr Aideen Lewis Principal Psychologist with the team has been a member of the HSE steering group on<br />
Elder Abuse.<br />
Publications, Research<br />
Meehan, T. MacLachlan, M. (in press) Self construction in schizophrenia: a discourse analysis.<br />
Psychology and Psychotherapy: theory, research and practice.<br />
Dolan, M. Freyne A and Cooney, C. Needs Assessment of older people with dementia has been submitted<br />
to Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine.<br />
Deirdre McNally (Clinical psychologist in training) has completed her research for the Masters in Applied<br />
Psychology 2007. Her research entitled “Getting rid of demons: Older adults experiences of therapy” involved<br />
interviewing older adults about their experiences of therapy.<br />
An evaluation of the lithium clinic is being conducted with emphasis on the assessment of the potential<br />
benefits of lithium on cognitive function in older patients.<br />
Conference Presentations<br />
Meehan, T. Mental Health in late life. Paper presented at the Gerontology conference (Mental Health issues<br />
in Later Life), Our Lady’s Hospice Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6 28th September 2007<br />
Abidin Z and Jackson D. “Cognitive function in attendees at Dublin South East Lithium Clinic”. Winter meeting<br />
of the Irish College of Psychiatrists, November 2007<br />
Return to Contents<br />
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