psy 10_09 p818_823 forum:Layout 1
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Am I OK? I was pleased to see the note about the ‘Am I Normal?’ website briefly described in your August issue (p.660). In the light of this I would like to introduce you to our www.am-i-ok.co.uk site. The site has been up and running since March 2007 and has been drawing up to 16,000 hits per month. It took several years to be developed and has been vetted by solicitors, and the prototype content by the NHS Litigation Authority. It is a signpost site that provides young people with a description of psychological risk resulting from critical
incidents in their lives, plus a checklist of early warning signs. It effectively gives them tools and guidance to self-refer, directing them to their GPs and to our service. Apart from the above core functions of the site, it also contains ‘Others’ stories’, a list of useful websites, a list of whom else the person can talk to and how to contact their GP (in the UK). It also has an e-mail feedback option to help us to keep the design and the process within the thinking of the age group. Keith Butler Buckinghamshire Early Intervention Service
Take your PIC Having read Benjamin Gardner’s article (‘Incentivised snowballing’, September 2009) it was interesting to see that in line with general population trends, psychology appears to becoming gradually more technologically proficient. Acutely, this could be attributed to the continued dissemination of technology into our everyday lives. Chronically, such trends may continue due to cohort effects. It is my view that such effects, alongside the continued assimilation of information and communications technologies (ICT) into our everyday lives, should encourage reflections about how ICT can be integrated into different stages of the research process. This reflection was something reinforced to me by during my doctoral research. This research sought to encourage vulnerable adolescents to record a series of vlogs (a form of video dairies) in their own homes. Understandably, ethical and safeguarding issues were a clear priority for all stakeholders, with each adding their own requirements in terms of what information needed to be communicated to this vulnerable population. Following a pilot meeting with a group demographically similar to that of the target population, it became clear that despite my best efforts to synthesise this into accessible information, the young people were not able to fully understand
what they would be needed to do. For this reason Participant Information Clips (PIC) were created. These short movie clips (for examples, see www.simonhammond.co.uk/contact.php) were shown to participants, outlining the wide variety of information deemed vital in an accessible way. Conversing with the participants in this manner provided inherent flexibility and a non-authoritarian medium of information delivery. Of course the effectiveness of PIC does need to be explored. However, beyond this process, future applications could see PIC being used to supplement or replace standardised instructions and debriefing in some internet-mediated research or face-to-face environments as appropriate. Alternatively, as in my own research, PIC could be used to communicate information to young people in an accessible and participant friendly manner. The use of PIC could not only improve participant experience but also promote the dissemination of the aims and implications of the studies to participants in an accessible and informative manner. Simon P. Hammond University of East Anglia
read discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk
COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD I I have the following sets of journals that I would be happy to give away to anyone prepared to come and collect them. Journal of Occupational Psychology/Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (1985 to June 2007, Vol. 58 No. 1 – Vol. 80 Part 2); Personnel Psychology (1995 to Winter 2007, Vol. 48 No. 1 – Vol. 60 No. 4); Journal of Applied Psychology (1987 to November 2007, Vol. 72 No. 1 – Vol. 92 No. 6); Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1986 to January 2007, Vol. 50 No. 1 – Vol. 92 No. 1). They are all in good condition, although some articles have been highlighted. They can be collected from Central London or West Hampstead. Charles Woodruffe charles.woodruffe@humanassets.co.uk, 020 7434 2122 I Have you considered the possibility of giving a little of your time to help beleaguered Palestinians? We are a small Palestinian NGO which runs programmes for families and children with psychological and psychiatric problems. Almost all Palestinian therapists have had no training in CBT. Consequently we wish to set up a workshop to provide good CBT training for our therapists and to others working in this district. We are based in Bethlehem in the West Bank, some eight miles from Jerusalem, and can offer you travel expenses and accommodation. If you have experience in CBT training can you offer a week of your time? John Gleisner gleisner@paradise.net.nz I We are a group of psychological therapists with a shared interest in how psychodynamic approaches may contribute to the treatment of psychosis and who are planning a research study in the UK looking at the effects of supportive psychodynamic therapy (SPT) developed in Denmark as part of the Danish National Schizophrenia Project. To this end we are looking for additional therapists who may be interested to contribute to this study. You have to have had a minimum of two years of supervised experience of psychodynamic practice and access to clients with psychosis. Supervision will be provided. Further information is available from Alison.summers@lancashirecare.nhs.uk. Rowena Mattan Airedale General Hospital
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