Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Family systems and mental health issues: a resilience approach
- Authors:
- COHEN Lynne, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice, 25(1), March 2011, pp.109-125.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This study aimed to understand resilience in people who live with or support a family member with a mental illness. Participants from the Community Link and Network Western Australia (CLAN WA), including 1 male and 14 females, took part in semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed eight recurring themes which indicated the challenges the carers faced and provided indications of the positive and negative personal, family and social factors that impacted on their lives. The themes were: getting to the CLAN WA; accessing help including CLAN WA; impact of living with a person who has a mental illness or problematic behaviour; family and cultural issues; communication within the family; coping strategies and evidence of resilience; social support; and the notion of sacrifice. While there is still considerable work to do in supporting people who live with or support a family member, the authors concluded that individuals living with mental health problems can do more than just survive the process.
Now I have a voice: service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training
- Authors:
- HOLTTUM Sue, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 15(4), 2011, pp.190-197.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
UK universities have only recently begun to address the need for a partnership with service users in higher education. This paper describes the challenges and rewards of service user and carer involvement in clinical psychology training as experienced in Canterbury Christ Church University. The aim of involvement is to ensure that trainee clinical psychologists understand the experiences and perspectives of mental health service users and their carers. Members of the service user and carer advisory group Salomons Advisory Group of Experts by Experience (SAGE) regularly take part in a variety of clinical psychology training sessions. Three members of SAGE describe their contributions to the work. The challenges of inclusion and specific approaches that are used to work with these challenges are explored. They require that everyone involved should fully acknowledge the social and historical barriers in order to work together to overcome them.
Parenting a child with a disability: the role of social support for African American parents
- Authors:
- HA Jung-Hwa, GREENBERG Jan S., SELTZER Marsha Mailick
- Journal article citation:
- Families in Society, 92(4), October 2011, pp.405-411.
- Publisher:
- The Alliance for Children and Families
Having a child with a disability poses a significant risk to parents’ physical and emotional well-being. This risk may vary across different racial and ethnic groups who may face differing caregiving challenges due to their socioeconomic and environmental resources. This study examines the impact of having a child with a disability on parents’ mental and physical health among urban-dwelling African Americans. It also examines the extent to which positive and negative social interactions with family members other than the spouse moderate the impact of child’s disability on parental adaptation. Analyses are based on an African American sample collected in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin collected as part of the Midlife in the United States study (MIDUS). The analytic sample consists of 48 parents of children with a disability and 144 comparison group parents of nondisabled children. The results show that having a child with a disability is associated with more somatic symptoms such as headaches, backaches, and trouble sleeping. However, the negative consequences of the child’s disability on parents’ mental health are reduced when parents receive greater positive support from family.
Always on call, always concerned: a survey of the experiences of older carers
- Author:
- PRINCESS ROYAL TRUST FOR CARERS
- Publisher:
- Princess Royal Trust for Carers
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 35p.
- Place of publication:
- Woodford Green
Of the 6 million carers in the UK, many are themselves near to or over retirement age. This report provides the results of an online survey available for a month in early 2011 of carers aged 60 and over from across the UK, which aimed to find out more about the lives and challenges faced by the carers. A total of 639 surveys were completed by carers aged between 60 and 94 years. Approximately 70% reported that they felt their physical health had suffered as a result of their caring responsibilities, and over three-quarters said their mental health had suffered. Approximately one-third said they had cancelled an operation or treatment, and half said their health had declined during the past year. The report argues that carers aged over 60 should receive more support from GPs including an annual health check which should include screening for depression. Other recommendations made by the report cover: financial support and changes to benefits; training, for example to carry out lifting; planning for the future; recognition of the carer’s role and value by health and care professionals; and breaks for carers with access to high quality alternative care.
Caring at a distance: bridging the gap
- Author:
- CARERS UK
- Publisher:
- Carers UK
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 31p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Caring is an issue which affects every family in the UK. With an ageing population and workforce managing caring at a distance is also a business issue. This report presents findings from the first ever survey into the impacts on employers and employees of managing caring at a distance. Key findings show that nearly half of respondents indicated that their work had been negatively affected by caring and that they felt tired, stressed and anxious. One in three were also worried that caring might have an impact on their capacity to work in the future. The report suggests that information about external sources of care and support which is clear and easy to navigate must be provided at national and local level. Better promotion of supportive technologies is needed to help both the person who is being cared for and the distance carer, and more practical support for line managers in the workplace is needed to help bridge the gap between policy and practice.
Issues of care are issues of justice: reframing the experiences of family caregivers of children with mental illness
- Authors:
- SUITER Sarah VanHooser, HEFLINGER Craig Anne
- Journal article citation:
- Families in Society, 92(2), April 2011, pp.191-198.
- Publisher:
- The Alliance for Children and Families
Studying the role of caregiver strain and its effect on the children involved is important, but it is also important to examine the effects of caregiving on the caregivers themselves. This is particularly true for people who care for children who are experiencing mental illness, and even more so for caregivers living in rural areas who often have increased difficulties as a result of longer travel times, lack of specialty services, and fewer community resources. While there is ample evidence documenting caregiver burden, it continues to go largely unaddressed by mental health care systems and economic and legal structures that might be altered to better support primary caregivers. This article, through the use of vignettes, reports on the lived experiences of 42 rural primary caregivers for children with mental health issues and applies a justice framework to suggest possible alternatives for building mechanisms for caregiver support. The framework allows for an understanding of caregiving that takes the burdens of care work seriously; provides structural supports for caregivers; and connects mental health disciplines with feminist social frameworks to better identify some of the causes of caregiver stress.
Personality features, caring burden and mental health of cohabitants of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or dementia
- Authors:
- NORDTUG Bente, KROKSTAD Steinar, HOLEN Are
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 15(3), April 2011, pp.318-326.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The aim of this study was to investigate the interplay between personality, mental health and type of disease in explaining caring burden of caregivers of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or dementia. A cross-sectional study included 206 participants, 105 cohabitants of partners with COPD and 101 cohabitants of partners with dementia. Neuroticism was assessed by Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and externality by Locus of Control of Behaviour. The Relative Stress Scale evaluated caring burden. Mental health was determined by the General Health Quality (GHQ-28) questionnaire. The results found that neuroticism and type of illness played a major role in explaining caring burden and mental health. Many of the carers were above the cut-off point for psychiatric caseness on the GHQ; 30.5% for the COPD group, and 58.4% for the dementia group. Both groups had low scores for depression and high scores for social dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia and somatisation. Compared to the dementia group, the COPD group had lower scores and fairly stable levels on all subscales of the GHQ. Females had higher scores on somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia; they also reported higher scores on neuroticism and externality. The article concludes that differences in personality and illness explained both caring burden and mental health among caregivers.
Keeping personal budgets personal: learning from the experiences of older people, people with mental health problems and their carers
- Authors:
- SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE, et al
- Publisher:
- Social Care Institute for Excellence
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 90p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
This report is a summary of people’s experiences of using self-directed support and personal budgets. The research was conducted by a joint team from Acton Shapiro, the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) and the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU). The study was based primarily on the experiences of 69 personal budget holders and carers, supported by the views of 40 practitioners and managers from local authorities, and 12 support provider organisations (including five user-led organisations). The findings are structured around the main stages of the personal budget process: moving to a personal budget, including access to information and advice; assessment, self-assessment and resource allocation; support planning and brokerage arrangements; setting up services and managing the personal budget. A final section covers key themes and issues. Whilst examples of positive practice were found, all the case study sites emphasised that it was still ‘early days’ for them in terms of the implementation of personal budgets, and both their personal budgets systems and front-line practice were still evolving.
Personal budgets briefing: learning from the experiences of people with mental health problems and their carers
- Author:
- SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE
- Publisher:
- Social Care Institute for Excellence
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 6p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This briefing summarises the experiences of people with mental health problems and their carers using self-directed support and personal budgets. It is based on a six month study, which also included older people. It involved five local authorities and draws the experiences of 69 personal budget holders and carers, supported by the views of 40 practitioners and managers and 12 support provider organisations. The briefing discusses: moving to a personal budget, including having access to information about them; assessment; resource allocation; support planning; arranging support; the role of carers; management of a personal budget and using support provider organisations; the role of external organisations and monitoring arrangements. Recommendations for implementing personal budgets are presented.
Psychological management of stroke
- Authors:
- LINCOLN Nadina B., et al
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 638p.
- Place of publication:
- Chichester
The authors, themselves clinical psychologists working in stroke services, review and synthesise the current theory and data relating to the assessment, treatment, and psychological aspects of stroke. They draw together evidence based practice covering a broad range of issues, including fitness to drive, decision making, prevention of stroke, and involvement of carers and families. The book is divided into four main parts. The first part provides an overview of stroke and stroke services. The second section looks at the cognitive effects of stroke, touching on such topics as communication problems, challenging behaviour, decision making and mental capacity, and cognitive rehabilitation. The third part looks at the emotional effects of stroke, including managing emotional problems, fear, pain and fatigue. The final part of the book focuses on the social dimensions of stroke discussing some of the issues carers face.