Podcast The impact of COVID-19 on maternal mental health

The ongoing impact of COVID-19 on global mental health is widely acknowledged, and women in the perinatal period may be particularly vulnerable to related mental health problems. In this podcast, Dr Liz Rose and Dr Mano Manoharan talk to CPDO Trainee Editor Dr Jennifer Powell about the effect the pandemic has had on the mental health of this group, highlighting recent case examples from a busy and diverse perinatal psychiatry service. CPD credits: 0.5

Module Safeguarding children: ensuring safe practice in general adult psychiatry settings

General adult psychiatrists play a central role in the assessment and management of patients, many of whom are parents and others who may also pose a risk to children. This module aims to highlight the type of scenarios the clinician may encounter, where safeguarding children issues may either be obvious or emerge following further assessment informed by a greater knowledge/understanding of this complex area. This module provides advice on how clinicians can effectively manage such scenarios, including advice on where they may access support, what information they should share and with whom. CPD credits: 1.5

Module Station writing for the MRCPsych CASC exam

The RCPsych's Examinations team is always looking for volunteers to author stations for the MRCPsych Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies (CASC) exam, which is part of RCPsych's entrance exam, an internationally respected qualification. Although the exam is generally considered to be a reliable test of skills and competencies, there remains controversy as to its validity for testing the more complex understanding of psychiatric practice at a senior level. With this in mind, the RCPsych needs more of its members to write high-quality CASC stations that maintain the reliability of the exam, while increasing its validity. We hope that this module will help you understand the principles (and pitfalls) of writing CASC stations in order to enable you to confidently submit a station of your own. CPD credits: 1

Module Prevent strategy: safeguarding freedom of expression and preventing stigma

When carrying out their Prevent duty, psychiatrists may find themselves in situations where their ethical commitment to freedom of expression and wish to avoid perpetuating social stigma are challenged by, or appear in conflict with, this duty. The RCPsych's Professional Practice and Ethics Committee offers guidance on ethical considerations arising from the Government's counter-terrorism strategy in Position Statement PS04/16S. This includes specific guidance on the risk of perpetuating stigma for people with ‘mental illness’, ‘certain communities’, and those who ‘dissent against authority’. This module should enable participants to learn and practise how to critically evaluate the risk of reducing freedom of expression and perpetuating stigma, whilst upholding this statutory duty. CPD credits: 1 Other recently published CPD Online podcasts (each worth 0.5 CPD credits and freely accessible) include:

• • Are you ignorant about the pandemic?

• • Lost in thought: can intellect save you in a pandemic?

• • The psychology behind mathematical modelling of epidemics

• • Managing alcohol withdrawal in acute in-patient psychiatry

• • Coping with the ‘pointless suffering’ of COVID-19

• • Re-reading Camus's ‘The Plague’ in pandemic times

• • Obedience to authority – lessons from Milgram applied to COVID-19

• • Mental Health Tribunals: response to the COVID-19 emergency

• • How do we lead effectively through the COVID-19 pandemic?

• • Working with patients remotely

• • Ethical considerations arising from COVID-19

• • COVID-19: Isolation and loneliness – is there a ‘social cure’?

• • Psychosocial response to epidemics – lessons from Ebola applied to COVID-19

• • Surviving the trauma: post-traumatic stress disorder in relation to COVID-19

• • The psychology of the virus ‘super-spreader’

• • The psychology of coping with quarantine

• • The psychology and psychiatry of pandemics.