Evidence Based Mental Health

Last update: 23 May 2012,
by Maureen Bell

Clinical guidelines relating to the diagnosis and treatment of specific disorders are on my guidelines page.

Lists of systematic reviews on mental health topics can be found on my bibliographies and reading lists page. These searches employ the Systematic Reviews Subset Strategy developed by the National Library of Medicine.

Library members have online access to the following journals in this field. You'll find them in the e-Journals A-Z list at the top right of this page.

Evidence based Healthcare
Evidence based Medicine
Evidence based Mental Health
Evidence based Nursing

Bandolier - Evidenced Based Health Care - Extras
Includes "What is?" essays explaining evidence based medicine, clinical guidelines, meta-analysis, and other concepts central to an evidence based approach..

The Campbell Collaboration
The Campbell Collaboration collaborates closely with its sibling organization, the Cochrane Collaboration, which prepares and maintains systematic reviews of the effects of interventions in health care. The Campbell Library of Systematic Reviews provides free online access to systematic reviews in the areas of education, criminal justice and social welfare.

Below are links to a selection of specialist Cochrane Collaborative Review Groups. The complete reviews can be accessed through the Cochrane Library, but these lists make browsing easier.

Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group
Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group
Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group
Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Group
Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group
Cochrane Schizophrenia Group
Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group

A complete list of the Cochrane Review Groups can be found here.

Evidence Based Psychiatric Practice: Implications for Education and Continuing Professional Development
By E M Goldner, A Abass, J S Leverette, and D R Haslam. A position statement of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, 2001.

Evidence-based Mental Health Treatments and Services: Examples to Inform Public Policy
By Anthony F. Lehman, Howard H. Goldman, Lisa B. Dixon, and Rachel Churchill. Milbank Memorial Fund, June 2004.

Finding the Evidence: A Gateway to the Literature in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (Second edition)
Edited by Angela Scott, Mike Shaw, and Carol Joughin. The Focus Project, Research Unit, Royal College of Psychiatrists. London, Gaskell, 2001.

NREPP: National Registry of evidence based Programs and Practices
National Registry of evidence based Programs and Practices (NREPP) is a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It is a searchable database of interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders.

TRIP Database
The TRIP Database searches across a range of high-quality medical information and gives direct, hyperlinked access to 'evidence based' material on the web as well as articles from premier on-line journals such as the BMJ, JAMA, NEJM etc. Sources searched by TRIP

Women's Mental Health: An Evidence Based Review
A report by Mental Health Determinants and Populations, Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence, World Health Organization, Geneva, 2000.