Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Targeting suicide - qualitative analysis of suicide prevention strategy documents in England and Finland
- Authors:
- SOLIN Pia, NIKANDER Pirjo
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Review Journal, 16(1), March 2011, pp.5-14.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
In a policy context, suicide is not easily defined, understood or prevented. It leaves a long-lasting mental and social burden on those left behind, as well as direct consequences on the health sector and society as a whole. The means policy itself is often difficult to turn into action. This review details the interpretative repertoires found in the suicide prevention strategies of both England and Finland, and examines their potential functions and audiences. In both nations, the political repertoire was formed from four themes: the public health epidemiology; the everyday; the preventive action; and the reflective repertoires. The paper outlines the polyphonic and multi-layered nature of these policy documents and how different repertoires may be used for various functions. The paper concludes that, while the polyphonic nature of policy documents is necessary to reach a wider readership and to capture suicide as a controversial phenomenon, its argumentative style may also undermine some of the measures and actions recommended by policy itself.
Caring for children of parents with mental health problems - a venture into historical and cultural processes in Europe
- Authors:
- SOLANTAUS Tytti, PURAS Dainius
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 12(4), November 2010, pp.27-36.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article discusses the European initiative Work Package 5 (WP5), a part of the CAMHEE programme, which was designed to bring children and families with parental mental illness onto the European agenda. Parental mental health problems are a major risk for children’s adverse development. Intergenerational mental health issues often leads to social marginalisation and exclusion, which constitutes a serious social problem. WP5 participants included Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Lithuania, Norway and Romania. The WP5 emphasised that it is important for every country to learn what the legal, human rights, and service and life situation is for these children and families and to take preventive and promotion action. The paper suggests that, to avoid further stigmatisation, awareness campaigns and training of professionals should capitalise on resilience and support for children and parenting rather than on risks. Psychiatric services for adults should respond to the needs for care and support of the patients' children. Finally, changes in society are needed, including redirecting legislation from restrictive measures towards promotion and prevention.
Effects of a psycho-social support programme for young men - randomised trial of the Time Out! Getting Life Back on track programme
- Authors:
- APPELQVIST-SCHMIDLECHNER Kaija, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 12(3), August 2010, pp.14-24.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In Finland, all 18-year-old men are called up for military service. About 25% of conscripts are excluded from service, half of them on mental health grounds. Exclusion from military service is particularly strongly associated with psycho-social problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Time Out! Getting Life Back on Track support programme could influence the psycho-social well-being of this identified risk group of young men. A total of 356 young men exempted from military or civil service were randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. The 182 men in the intervention group were offered a personal counsellor. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews and register data. At one-year follow-up psychological distress had decreased in the intervention group more than among controls. The intervention had no impact on alcohol use, self-assessed quality of life, problem accumulation, self-confidence or contentment. The accumulation of problems poses a challenge for the development of interventions targeted at young people. The article concludes that even small-scale support can have a positive impact on the general well-being of young men.
The effective family programme: preventative services for the children of mentally ill parents in Finland
- Authors:
- SOLANTAUS Tytti, TOIKKA Sini
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 8(3), August 2006, pp.37-44.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The Effective Family Programme was initiated in Finland in 2001 to provide methods for health and social services to support families and children of mentally ill parents. The methods are implemented and clinicians are trained in psychiatric services and primary health care. The methods include the Beardslee Preventive Family Intervention, a parent-focused Let's Talk about Children Discussion and the Network Meeting. This article describes the EF Programme with reference to the development of services in the national health care system.
Medical model on top
- Author:
- METTERI Anna
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 26.9.02, 2002, p.48.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Looks at Finnish mental health care policy where the medical model in psychiatry has been strengthened. Argues that it is now up to staff to move towards more collaborative methods of working.
Prevention of suicide: guidelines for the formulation and implementation of national strategies
- Author:
- UNITED NATIONS. Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development
- Publisher:
- United Nations
- Publication year:
- 1996
- Pagination:
- 34p.
- Place of publication:
- New York
Contains guidelines and an example of a strategy in action from Finland.
The Effective Family Programme II: clinicians' experiences of training in promotive and preventative child mental health methods
- Authors:
- TOIKKA Sini, SOLANTAUS Tytti
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 8(4), November 2006, pp.4-10.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
For this programme, mental health clinicians in Finland were trained to master interventions and to become trainers for promotion of development and prevention of mental health problems in children with mentally ill parents. A multi-professional group of 45 clinicians were involved in the training, including eighteen nurses, nine social workers, six medical doctors, six psychologists and six public health nurses. The trainees' experiences of the impact of the training on their professional skills and work satisfaction, on one hand, and implementation of the methods, on the other, were examined. The data was collected by a questionnaire. The 30 respondents (response rate 83%) reported an increase in their professional skills as well as in work-related joy and motivation. Most of them had trained others, and implementation of the new working methods had started. The success factors of the Effective Family training for first phase of the implementation are discussed.
Nursing home suicides: a psychological autopsy study
- Authors:
- SOUMINEN Kirsi, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(12), December 2003, pp.1095-1101.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Older adults comprise a fifth of all suicides. Elders are the fastest growing part of the population, thus the number of persons needing nursing home care will increase dramatically in the near future. Little information has been available about suicides in nursing homes. The present study described all suicides among older adults in nursing homes in Finland during a 12-month period emphasizing the factors that have been found to be associated with suicide in the general elderly population. Drawing on data from a psychological autopsy study of all suicides (n=1397) in Finland during one year, all suicides committed by patients in nursing homes were identified. Retrospective DSM-IV consensus diagnoses were assigned. Twelve elderly (aged 60 years or more) nursing home residents who died by suicide, 0.9% of all suicides, were identified. The primary finding of the present study was that nursing home residents who died by suicide had suffered from highly comorbid somatopsychiatric disorders. One or more diagnoses on Axis I were made for all who died by suicide in nursing home. Depressive syndrome was diagnosed in three-quarters of subjects. Only a third of these were identified to have suffered from depressive symptoms before their death. Early recognition and adequate treatment of both somatic diseases and mental disorders, particularly depression, as well as early recognition of suicide risk among nursing home residents, are needed in order to prevent suicide.
Safety, feasibility and family experiences of preventive interventions for children and families with parental depression
- Authors:
- SOLANTAUS Tytti, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 11(4), November 2009, pp.15-24.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Depression is frequent among parents, and children with depressed parents have an elevated risk for psychiatric disorders. This report describes and details one phase of the development and implementation of a country-wide preventive programme for children of parents with depression in Finland. This national effort first focused on developing programmes for children with depressed parents, and was later expanded to include families with parents who have a variety of mental and other health conditions. Using a sample of 119 single and dual parent families, the preventive interventions aims were ‘to support positive self-understanding in the parents’, ‘to support mutual understanding in the family’, ‘to support positive parenting’, ‘to support future orientation in the family’, and ‘to identify children who need additional services’. Concluding that parents in treatment for depression are relieved if they are offered opportunities to discuss their children and learn how to support them, despite depression, and that clinicians in psychiatric services to adults can be trained to conduct discussions about parenting and children, the authors demonstrate that child-centred preventive interventions can be carried out in real-life conditions in psychiatric services for adults.