Dataset Information

Mental health of UK Members of Parliament in the House of Commons: a cross-sectional survey.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:The purpose of this study was to assess (1) the overall mental health of Members of Parliament (MPs) and (2) awareness among MPs of the mental health support services available to them in Parliament. DESIGN:An anonymous self-completed online cross-sectional survey was conducted in December 2016. SETTING:56th UK House of Commons. PARTICIPANTS:All 650 members of the 56th UK House of Commons were invited to participate; 146 MPs (23%) completed the survey. OUTCOMES:The General Health Questionnaire-12 was used to assess age- and sex-standardised prevalence of probable common mental disorders (CMD). Results were compared with a nationally representative survey, the Health Survey for England (HSE) 2014. Core demographic questions, MPs' awareness of available mental health services, their willingness to discuss mental health issues with party Whips and fellow MPs and the effects of employment outside Parliament were assessed. RESULTS:Comparison of MP respondents with HSE comparator groups found that MPs have higher rates of mental health problems (age- and sex-standardised prevalence of probable CMD in 49 surveyed MPs 34% (95%?CI 27% to 42%) versus 17% (95%?CI 13% to 21%) in the high-income comparison group). Survey respondents were younger, more likely to be female and more educated compared with all MPs. 77% of MPs (n=112) did not know how to access in-house mental health support. 52% (n=76) would not discuss their mental health with party Whips or other MPs (48%; n=70). CONCLUSIONS:MPs in the study sample had higher rates of mental health problems than rates seen in the whole English population or comparable occupational groups. Most surveyed MPs are unaware of mental health support services or how to access them. Our findings represent a relatively small sample of MPs. There is a need for MPs to have better awareness of, and access to, mental health support.

SUBMITTER: Poulter D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6609039 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mental health of UK Members of Parliament in the House of Commons: a cross-sectional survey.

Poulter Daniel D Votruba Nicole N Bakolis Ioannis I Debell Frances F Das-Munshi Jayati J Thornicroft Graham G

BMJ open 20190701 7

<h4>Objectives</h4>The purpose of this study was to assess (1) the overall mental health of Members of Parliament (MPs) and (2) awareness among MPs of the mental health support services available to them in Parliament.<h4>Design</h4>An anonymous self-completed online cross-sectional survey was conducted in December 2016.<h4>Setting</h4>56th UK House of Commons.<h4>Participants</h4>All 650 members of the 56th UK House of Commons were invited to participate; 146 MPs (23%) completed the survey.<h4> ...[more]

PMID: 31262804

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Project description:BackgroundIn Egypt, the shortage of mental health services, particularly for adolescents and young adults, is apparent. Electronic mental health (EMH) has been proposed as a solution to bridge the gap and better address the needs of young people. However, EMH is new to Egypt and its acceptability among target populations is crucial to its implementation and success.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to explore the interest of Egyptian youth in EMH, identify perceived barriers to EMH, and inform the design of EMH tools to best address the needs of youth.MethodsA web-based cross-sectional survey was distributed among medical students at Tanta University in Egypt. Chi-square and one-way analysis of variance tests were performed for inferential analyses using a significance level of .05.ResultsOf the 707 individuals who completed the survey (90.9% response rate), 60.5% (428) were female, 62% (438) lived in urban and suburban areas, and the mean age of the sample was 20.5 (SD 1.8) years. The vast majority of participants (522/707, 73.8%) had already used the internet to find information about mental health problems, but the information was unsatisfactory for about half of them (386/707, 54.6%). Almost all students reported that they would prefer web-based therapy if EMH were available through a trustworthy national web-based platform for youth mental health (601/707, 85%). Students believed that emotional difficulties, social support, and coping strategies were the main topics that EMH should help with. The most common perceived barriers for EMH use in Egypt were concerns about privacy (382/707, 54%) and a lack of technology literacy and unfamiliarity with EMH (352/707, 50%).ConclusionsEMH is a promising strategy for addressing gaps in the mental health care for young people. To construct and implement a digital system of care that addresses the unique needs and preferences of youth, adolescents and young adults should be involved in the co-development and design.

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Dataset Information

Mental health of UK Members of Parliament in the House of Commons: a cross-sectional survey.

Publications

Mental health of UK Members of Parliament in the House of Commons: a cross-sectional survey.

Similar Datasets

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