Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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From fear to faith: efficacy of trauma assessment training for New York–based Southern Baptist church groups
- Authors:
- SUITE Derek H., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Research on Social Work Practice, 17(2), March 2007, pp.258-263.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Post-9/11, many faith-based responders expressed the opinion that they were neither prepared nor trained to recognize the mental health needs of long-term trauma survivors. With funding through the Red Cross, an interdisciplinary trauma training program was developed to increase the capacity of the New York Southern Baptist Church groups to provide trauma assessment and support through the Metropolitan Baptist Association of New York. Through a pretest and posttest survey, the training was evaluated. Of the workshop attendees, 91% gave positive feedback and felt the training was worthwhile. The results suggest an ongoing need for interdisciplinary training that includes faith-based groups.
Social cohesion, social support, and health among Latinos in the United States
- Authors:
- MULVANEY-DAY Norah E., ALGERIA Margarita, SRIBNEY William
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 2(64), January 2007, pp.477-495.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The role of individual versus community level social connections in promoting health is an important factor to consider when addressing Latino health. This analysis examines the relationships between social support, social cohesion, and health in a sample of Latinos in the United States. Using data from the National Latino and Asian American Study, the analysis uses ordered logistic regression to explore the relationships of family support, friend support, family cultural conflict, and neighbourhood social cohesion with self-rated physical and mental health, taking into account language proficiency and use, nativity, and sociodemographic variables. Family support, friend support, and neighbourhood social cohesion were positively related to self-rated physical and mental health, and family cultural conflict was negatively related when controlled only for sex and age. After controlling for education, income, and other demographic measures, only family support was found to have a weak association with self-rated physical health; however, the relationship seemed to be mediated by language. In contrast, family support and family cultural conflict were strongly associated with self-rated mental health, after controlling for language, education, income, and other demographic measures. The study did not find neighbourhood social cohesion to be significantly related to either self-rated physical or mental health, after accounting for the effects of the other social connection variables. Language of interview did not explain the highly significant effects of language proficiency and use. Social connections are important for health and mental health, but language and other sociodemographic factors seem to be related to how Latinos establish these social linkages. Further investigation into the role of language in the development and maintenance of social connections may help unravel the mechanisms by which they promote or decrease health.
A mix-method approach to the cultural understanding of distress and the non-use of mental health services
- Authors:
- GROLEAU Danielle, PLUYE Pierre, NADEAU Lucie
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 16(6), December 2007, pp.731-741.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
The rationale for conducting mixed-method studies is usually based on the desire to combine the complementary strengths of qualitative and quantitative research. Typically, the former provides in-depth descriptions offering strong internal validity while the latter provides strong external validity. The exclusive use of quantitative methods in mental health research presents certain limitations which lie in the subjective nature of mental health problems and related behaviours, and the fact that these are mediated by cultural context. This paper illustrates, along with the Pathway and Barriers to Mental Health project, the usefulness of using a mixed-method design to study mental health problems and related behaviours in a culturally diverse community. The results show how the various quantitative and qualitative stages of the project were implemented in a Sequential Transformative Design that allows for a better identification and understanding of community mental health problems. This type of mixed design contributed to the development and evaluation of a regional cultural consultation service in mental health. A mixed-methods approach does not simply make positivist science stronger; rather, it contributes to do better research and tailored intervention.
The mental health and social circumstances of Kosovan Albanian and Albanian unaccompanied refugee adolescents living in London
- Authors:
- HOLLINS Kathryn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Diversity in Health and Social Care, 4(4), 2007, pp.277-285.
- Publisher:
- Radcliffe Publishing
This cross-sectional study using mixed methods examined the psychological health and social needs of 99 Kosovan Albanian and Albanian unaccompanied refugee adolescents looked after by Haringey social services. Results found older age at interview and older age on arrival were associated with a significantly higher level of psychological difficulties, rather than at a younger age. Lack of structured support, such as living in hostel accommodation, and lack of parental contact were also associated. It is suggested that the higher the level of psychological difficulties among the older adolescents may be partially due to the reduction of statutory provision of social, practical and emotional support for this vulnerable population, which occurs after the age of 16 years.
The relationship between self-reported health and mental health problems among older adults in New Zealand: experiential avoidance as a moderator
- Authors:
- ANDREW D. H., DULIN P. L.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 11(5), September 2007, pp.596-603.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This study sought to examine the influence of experiential avoidance (EA) as a moderating variable between reported physical health problems and anxiety and depression among older adults. Experiential avoidance has been found in previous studies to be strongly associated with a number of psychological disorders in younger adults but has received minimal attention in older populations. Two-hundred-and-eight individuals from New Zealand between the ages of 70 and 92 years old participated in this study. The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire were used to measure anxiety, depression and EA, respectively. It was hypothesized that self-reported health (SRH) and EA would be associated with depression and anxiety at the zero order level. It was also hypothesized that EA would be a unique predictor of depression and anxiety and would moderate the relationships between SRH and both depression and anxiety. Multiple regression analyses indicated that EA explained 8% of the unique variance in depression, 20% in anxiety and moderated the relationships between SRH and both depression and anxiety. This study also found that the relationships involving EA were more pronounced with anxiety as compared with depression in this elderly sample. The theoretical and practical applications of these findings are discussed.
Services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour or mental health needs
- Authors:
- MANSELL J.L., (chair)
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Department of Health
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 35p.
- Place of publication:
- London
- Edition:
- Rev. ed.
This report is issued as best practice guidance to councils with social services responsibilities and health bodies. It is not mandatory and no extra resources will be provided for its implementation. Councils and health bodies should take it into account in setting their own priorities and policies. It will also be useful to people using services, their families and representatives, staff and those responsible for commissioning of local services as a statement of best practice. It is an updated version of the guidance originally produced by Professor Mansell and his project team in 1993.
Reliability and validity of a performance-based measure of skills for communicating with doctors for older people with serious mental illness
- Authors:
- PRATT Sarah I., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 16(5), October 2007, pp.569-579.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Older people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) have high rates of medical comorbidity and impaired social skills, including basic communication skills that are imperative for medical encounters. The aim was to examine two role-plays developed to evaluate communication in a health care visit. A total of 152 people over age 50 with SMI were rated on two standardized medical visit role-plays. This assessment had excellent inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability. Performance was not related to gender or age, although participants with a mood disorder had better social skill performance than those with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Performance was strongly related to the Social Skills Performance Assessment (SSPA), designed to assess basic communication skills in older people with SMI. Performance was also correlated with self-care skills, social functioning, number of medical visits within the past six months, and informant rating of the effect of physical condition on functioning. This assessment demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties, including reliability and convergent validity, and may be a useful tool to assess basic communication skills for discussing health care concerns.
Does violence affect one gender more than the other? The mental health impact of violence among male and female university students
- Authors:
- ROMITO Patrizia, GRASSI Michele
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 65(6), September 2007, pp.1222-1234.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This study explores whether violence has a different impact on males and females in a sample of 502 Italian university students, responding to a self-administered questionnaire. The authors considered violence by family members, witnessed family violence, peers/school violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence. Mental health outcomes included: depression, panic attacks, heavy alcohol use, eating problems, suicidal ideation and attempts, and self-evaluation of health. Both males and females reported similar rates of experienced and witnessed family violence as well as of intimate partner violence, to which women reacted more negatively than men. Peers/school violence was more common among men. Sexual violence was more common and more severe among females. Among mental health effects, panic attacks were more common among females, and alcohol problems among males. The authors considered the cumulative impact of violence, calculating the odds ratios (ORs) for reporting each health outcome after having experienced zero, one, two, three or four/five types of violence. For both men and women, the more violence, the higher the risk of health problems; however, the real jump in the risk of mental suffering occurred between three and four /five types of violence, the latter category more often female. Moreover, the authors obtained ORs for the relationships between health outcome and each type of violence, after adjustment for the other types of violence. For experienced and witnessed family violence, the health impact was similar for males and females; for intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and peer/school violence it was larger for females. In the literature, women report more violence-related health problems than men. Results of the present study imply that the excess health problems among women may result from more intense or more frequent experiences of violence.
Children's rights: respecting children's rights and understanding responsibilities
- Author:
- WHEAL Ann
- Publisher:
- Brinton Cottage
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 232p.
- Place of publication:
- Southampton
This book looks at rights and responsibilities across the different areas that affect children: The statutory and voluntary agencies, an international perspective, parents, education, children unable to live at home, safe-guarding children, respecting diversity, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, youth work, youth justice, health and mental health. Children's rights often impose a need for a change of attitude to one of viewing children as people first. In other words children's needs and entitlements must stand alongside that of adults. The needs of the child must be addressed separately. They must be given at least equal weight. In all probability they will be very different from that of the adults.
Health needs of prisoners in England and Wales: the implications for prison healthcare of gender, age and ethnicity
- Authors:
- HARRIS Francesca, HEK Gill, CONDON Louise
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 15(1), January 2007, pp.56-66.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This paper aims to provide evidence of the healthcare needs of prisoners in relation to gender, age and ethnicity, drawing from a larger systematic overview of the policy and research literature concerning primary care nursing in prisons in England and Wales. The literature overview shaped the initial stages of a research project funded by the Department of Health to examine the views and perspectives of prisoners and nurses working in prisons, and to identify good primary care nursing in the prison environment. At total of 17 databases were searched using search terms related to primary healthcare in prisons (health, nurs*, primary care, healthcare, family medicine, prison*, offender*, inmate*) with terms truncated where possible in the different databases. Following this, a sifting phase was employed using inclusion/exclusion criteria to narrow and focus the literature perceived as relevant to the research questions. All papers were critically appraised for quality using standardised tools. Findings from the literature overview show that prisoners are more likely to have suffered some form of social exclusion compared to the rest of society, and there are significantly greater degrees of mental health problems, substance abuse and worse physical health in prisoners than in the general population. Women, young offenders, older prisoners and those from minority ethnic groups have distinct health needs compared to the prison population taken as a whole, with implications for the delivery of prison healthcare, and how these needs are met effectively and appropriately.