How did you engage with the intervention -what did you do?
Assignment Rationale
The Service Report is designed to replicate the type of task psychology graduates are often asked to perform in a range of employment settings. For example, Assistant Psychologists and Trainee Clinical and Counselling Psychologists frequently undertake such reports to help psychological services make evidence-based decisions about treatments options. Psychology graduates are valued members of such teams, due to their skills in critical evaluation of the literature and ability to apply findings to a particular setting or population.
The coursework aims to test your breadth of knowledge of two interventions (LO2), critical evaluation and literature review skills (LO3), knowledge of clinical applications and limitations of therapies (LO4), and ability to reflect on the cultural context of mind-body therapies (LO5).
Instructions
You are working in an NHS psychological therapies service in an ethnically diverse area of London, however the service has noticed that patients from marginalised ethnic groups are under-represented in the patient numbers. Consultation with local community groups and existing patients suggests that a choice of a mind-body therapy, alongside the standard talking therapy currently offered would be welcomed. You have been asked by your Service Manager to investigate two suitable mind-body therapies and to write a report on these so that the service can determine which therapy to offer to its patients.
You have been asked to 1) describe what the interventions are (as no one in the service has much knowledge of such therapies) 2) explain the ways that the therapies claim to increase wellbeing; 3) review the literature on the two therapies, and to report on their effectiveness; 4) try out at least one of the therapies yourself and 5) provide a final recommendation about which intervention you think should be offered to the patients.
Guidance
To approach this task, you should first choose:
1) One of the following services to imagine that you are working in:
i. A service for young people with eating disorders
ii. A service for adults who have chronic pain
iii. A service for adults experiencing drug and/or alcohol addiction
iv. A service for older adults with common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety
2) The two mind-body therapies that you will write the report on.
3) The one therapy to try out and reflect upon.
Please note: You are unable to use the intervention you presented in the Debate, as one of your interventions for the Service Report. However, you may use interventions that other Debate group members used.
Within your report you should include the following sections, with headings:
· Title: An appropriate title which clearly informs the reader of the interventions discussed and patient group
· Context of Report: A description of the patient group your service works with, including relevant clinical presentations and issues faced by this population.
· Description of Mind-Body Therapies: Introduce what mind-body therapies are and a description of the two therapies you will be discussing. Include an explanation for how the therapies claim to increase health and wellbeing -this may be done through a description of the mechanisms and/or philosophy behind the intervention.
· Effectiveness of Therapies: A critical review of the literature on the effectiveness of each intervention. You can report on studies for general populations and also for your specific patient group, if there are any studies on this. If there are only very few studies, report on this and evaluate why this might be.
· Personal Reflection: Reflect in a personal way on the one of the interventions you have written about and that you have tried out yourself (this does not need to be the one you recommend).
a. How did you engage with the intervention -what did you do?
b. What was the impact of your engagement with the intervention -what changes, if any, did you notice? What did you notice at the level of body, emotions, thoughts, interpersonal relationships, work, study?
c. How accessible was it -How easy was it to do, any challenges?
