Department of Psychiatry Hold its Monthly Journal Club for the 4th Time

Mr Tesfa Mekonen (Assist. Prof) was the speaker of the third Journal Club that was conducted on January 3/2019. He presented a critical appraisal of an article titled “Delivering the Thinking Healthy Programme for perinatal depression through volunteer peers: a cluster randomised controlled trial in Pakistan”. This article is a draft manuscript on Elsevier editorial system for the Lancet.
Tesfa discussed the strength, weakness and lessons of the research activity by comparing it with the established standards/protocols for a cluster randomized controlled trial. The audience which comprised of the faculty and graduate students raised a number of points that let a smooth discussion among the participants.
According to the journal club, mild to moderate revision is recommended to make it more acceptable to the scholastic world. The 3rd journal club was then successfully concluded.
Mr Tilahun Belete (Assist. Prof) presented his seminar on “Physical Exercise and Mental Illness” on 7th February, 2019. This is the 4th Journal Club of the Department. According to the presentation, the role of physical exercise in the prevention and management of mental health problems remains less advocated.
Tilahun presented how the physiological and psychological effects of exercise are effective in the promotion of one’s mental wellbeing. He also explained different research findings on the effects of physical exercise in the prevention and management of stress, different anxiety disorders, depression, severe mental illnesses, and substance use problems.
Although there are no published works at national level, the audience discussed the current experiences in the local clinical setups based on the prior evidences. It was noticed that, there are inconsistent practices among clinicians in prescribing physical exercise to people with different mental health problems. Even there are no facilities in clinical setups for a physical exercise.
The lessons from the 4th journal club include emphasizing to recommend physical exercise to people with mental health problems, and to promote physical exercise in the rehabilitation of mental health and substance use disorders. The journal club will continue in a monthly basis.

Figure: Tesfa Mekonen (left) presenting a critical appraisal on a draft manuscript in the 3rd Journal club and Tilahun Belete (right) presenting a seminar on Physical Exercise and mental Illness 4th Journal Club, Department of Psychiatry, school of Medicine, CMHS, BDU on Jan and Feb 2019, respectively.