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The role of biological and genetic causal beliefs in the stigmatisation of 'mental patients'
- Authors:
- READ John, HARRE Niki
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 10(2), April 2001, pp.223-235.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Research indicates that the 'mental illness is an illness like any other' approach to destigmatisation has failed to improve attitudes. This study replicated, with 469 New Zealanders, previous findings that the public tends to reject biological and genetic explanations of mental health problems in favour of psychosocial explanations focused on negative life events. It also confirmed previous findings (contrary to the assumption on which most destigmatisation programmes are based) that biological and genetic causal beliefs are related to negative attitudes, including perceptions that 'mental patients' are dangerous, antisocial and unpredictable, and reluctance to become romantically involved with them. The amount of reported personal contact with people who had received psychiatric treatment was correlated with positive attitudes. It is recommended that destigmatisation programmes consider abandoning efforts to promulgate illness-based explanations and focus instead on increasing contact with and exposure to users of mental health services.
It isn't something to yodel about, but it exists! Faeces, nurses, social relations and status within a mental hospital
- Author:
- DONGEN E Van
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 5(3), August 2001, pp.205-215.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In medical settings, emotion-provoking work creates a hierarchy among health care professionals. Emotions like disgust, contempt or aversion that are evoked by 'body work' with elderly patients often remain invisible, but they play an important role in morality and shape the social relations between the patients and the professionals. With the help of ethnographic data from the nursing wards of a mental hospital in the Netherlands, the author shows how feelings about excrement are determined not only by their nature, but also by the nature of the relationships among the nurses and the relationships between the nurses and the elderly patients. Body care and the emotions that are evoked are connected to morality and moral care. Dealing with bodily and moral 'dirt' gives nurses a special position within the hospital as a whole, which will have effects on the care for elderly.
Work issues for young people with psychosis: barriers to employment
- Authors:
- BASSETT Jo, LLOYD Chris, BASSETT Hazel
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(2), February 2001, pp.66-72.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Young people who have had a mental illness face significant barriers to both gaining and maintaining employment. This Australian study uses a qualitative design consisting of two focus groups, to identify the issues experienced by young people diagnosed with psychosis wanting to gain employment. The themes identified in this study concern loss, low self-confidence and self-esteem, stigma, treatment issues, the need for support, and difficulties in identifying and achieving goals.
Poverty and mental health: the work of the FOCUS on mental health consortium
- Author:
- LAWTON-SMITH Simon
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Review, 6(3), September 2001, pp.17-20.
- Publisher:
- Pier Professional
FOCUS on Mental Health is a UK consortium, founded in 1993, which comprises some 25 representatives of leading UK groups with an interest in mental health. Its overall aim is: to help create a positive climate of opinion towards mental health; to stimulate communication and collaboration between groups working in mental health; to co-ordinate events involving member organisations which are beyond the organisational capacity of individual members of the group; to organise and advise on concrete initiatives, aimed at promoting and improving the image of mental health. Discusses their work and achievements.
Challenging fundamental assumptions about mental health service users and work
- Authors:
- RINALDI Miles, HILL Robert
- Journal article citation:
- A Life in the Day, 5(2), May 2001, pp.5-10.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
New research challenges three commonly held assumptions; that mental health service users do not want to work, that work will make their condition worse, and that what they are really best suited to is sheltered work. Re-examines these assumptions in the light of interviews with service users and employers.
Research into the Mental Health Act: a qualitative study of the views of those using or affected by it
- Authors:
- MARRIOTT Sarah, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 10(1), February 2001, pp.33-39.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
The study investigates opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of Parts II and X of the Mental Health Act (1983) and those affected by it. The study covers those directly and commonly involved with the Act (mental health nurses; approved social workers; general psychiatrists; MHA administrators; service users; their carers); those less directly affected (hospital managers; lawyers; general practitioners; policy makers; police surgeons and liaison officers; specialist psychiatrists); and organisations representing Groups 1 and 2. A range of qualitative research methods were used to gather data. The findings provide a valuable insight into views about how existing legislation is applied in practice. They suggest that a review of criteria and procedures for commitment is needed. More effective implementation of legislative policies and the reconfiguration of resources to support them are also needed.
Survey of staff perceptions of illicit drug use among patients in a medium secure unit
- Authors:
- DOLAN Mairead, KIRWAN Helen
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatric Bulletin, 25(1), January 2001, pp.14-17.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
This study is a survey of staff perceptions of illicit drug among in-patients in a medium secure unit. Results showed that sixty per cent of staff were aware of drug misuse on the unit. Less than one-third of staff were clear about the unit's policy for dealing with in-patient drug use and few have had adequate training in the management of patients with dual diagnoses. Strategies for dealing with drug misuse appear to focus on security rather than therapeutic issues. Services need to provide adequate training for staff on the management of patients with co-morbid substance misuse, introduce patient education programmes and develop and disseminate clear policies that emphasise both therapy and security.
Creating identities: mental health consumer to citizen?
- Authors:
- BOLZAN Natalie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 1(3), December 2001, pp.317-328.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Support groups for people with a mental illness have been in existence for over 40 years. The current consumerist agenda constructs people with a mental illness as consumers of mental health services such as support groups. To explore the range and type of support groups in New South Wales, Australia, an empirical study based upon interviews with a purposive sample of respondents with experience of using support groups and a postal questionnaire was conducted. From the study it became apparent that (so-called) consumers were challenging the construction of themselves as consumers of services. Instead they were asserting that their contribution to the treatment and management of their illness was closer to that of 'expert' than of consumer. From the findings, the authors argue that this reconstruction of their self-perceptions suggests that people with a mental illness are challenging the consumerist agenda and acting as social citizens. This change in self-perception by mentally ill people should be addressed by policymakers and practitioners in all forms of social work practice.
Mental health professionals' attitudes towards and knowledge of electroconvulsive therapy
- Authors:
- LUTCHMAN Russell D., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 10(2), April 2001, pp.141-150.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Argues that the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have been established, yet widespread negative public attitudes towards the procedure remain. Studies the attitudes towards and knowledge of ECT among mental health staff of different disciplines. A questionnaire revealed significant differences in attitudes to and knowledge of the therapy between four mental health disciplines, with psychiatrists being most favourably disposed and most knowledgeable, followed by nurses, social workers and psychologists. Concludes that discipline is an accurate predictor of attitudes towards ECT. There is a need for awareness of differences of opinion towards the treatment in multidisciplinary teams, as well as for better education about ECT for all members of the clinical team.
Principles not prejudices
- Author:
- ROWDEN Ray
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 22.2.01, 2001, p.14.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
The author argues that if the White Paper to reform the mental health system is to succeed, the government must listen to the views of patients and not the opinions of the media.