A team of academics and clinicians, led by those at the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust have collaborated to produce a guide which was ‘Highly Commended’ at the recent BMA Patient information awards.
The guide can be downloaded for free here.
We were delighted to hear that the BMA had “highly commended” the resource, as the Patient Awards highlight the very best in patient resources. We hope that this will help parents of young people who self-harm find and use the Guide, and that they will feel less alone and better able to cope. - Dr Anne Ferrey
Dr Anne Ferrey, who led on the guide, explains how the project evolved:
“We spoke to more than 35 parents and carers of young people who self-harmed as part of a research project. Overwhelmingly, they mentioned feeling alone and wishing that they had more knowledge about self-harm, its causes and its impact on the family. Parents mentioned that they would like to have a source of information from a trustworthy source that spoke about topics that were important to them, including practical topics such as managing wounds and scars, and advice on how to best support their child who is self-harming. We developed Coping with Self-harm to fill this gap for parents and families.
“We based the Guide on what parents told us they wished they had known after they discovered that their child had self-harmed. We also provided information about other resources, such as helplines, clinical agencies and a book on the issues. As well as information, the Guide contains quotes from other parents whose children have also self-harmed. We hope this will show parents that they are not alone, and demonstrate some strategies that have helped other families.
Pictured left to right to receive the commendation: Fiona Brand, Psychiatric Liaison Nurse/Research Nurse, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust; Anne Stewart, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, Central Oxon CAMHS, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and University of Oxford, Anne Ferrey, Research Coordinator, University of Oxford Centre for Suicide Research; Keith Hawton, Director of the Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford; Sue Simkin, former research coordinator, Centre for Suicide Research; Nic Hughes, Senior Research Fellow in Palliative Care & Lecturer in Nursing, University of Leeds; and Liz Bale, Research Assistant, Oxford Centre for Suicide Research.
Find out more about the Centre for Suicide Research at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford.