Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Establishing individualized goals in a supported education intervention: program influences on goal setting and attainment
- Authors:
- COLLINS Mary Elizabeth, MOWBRAY Carol T., BYBEE Deborah
- Journal article citation:
- Research on Social Work Practice, 9(4), July 1999, pp.483-507.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Support for goal setting and attainment is a frequent component of social work interventions aimed at fostering client growth. This study investigated goal setting and attainment in the Michigan Supported Education Research Project, an intervention that provides support for adults with psychiatric disabilities to engage in postsecondary education. Results indicate increased complexity of goal statements over time. Interventions can influence the goals that are set by individuals. Because of its importance to social work practice, researchers and practitioners should pay more explicit attention to goal setting.
The meaningful elements in recovering from major depression as a basis of developing social work in mental health services
- Authors:
- ROMAKKANIEMI Marjo, KILPELAINEN Arja
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 13(5), 2015, pp.439-458.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The aim in this article is to discover means to develop social work in mental health services by analysing reflections on encounters between professionals and people recovering from major depression. This is analysed through lived experiences of two service users. The approach lies on expertise by experiences, and as data were blog-texts which are seen as a novel arena to reflect recovering processes. Four themes emerged from data supporting recovery: the confident working relationship, time and hiatus for finding one’s own authenticity, successful timing of interventions, and a holistic view of life. This article emphasises the importance of taking into account the expertise of clients. Through these subjective experiences of clients, it is possible for social workers as an expert of social determinants of health, to develop services. (Edited publisher abstract)
Suicide attempts and social worker contact: secondary analysis of a general population study
- Authors:
- SLATER Thomas, SCOURFIELD Jonathan, GREENLAND Katy
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 45(1), 2015, pp.378-394.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
There is a general dearth of social work studies in relation to suicide and very little is known about the characteristics of social work service users who are also suicidal. This paper is based on secondary analysis of the survey 'Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Study in England 2007'. Results showed that (i) social work contact in the previous twelve months was significantly associated with lifetime suicide attempt; (ii) various risk and protective factors help to explain the relationship between suicide attempt and social work contact. Non-suicidal self-harm was found to be associated with suicide attempt, both with and without social work contact. Drug dependency was associated with social work contact, regardless of suicide attempt history. Other variables affected certain aspects of the relationship between social work contact and suicidality. These included age, religion, income, employment and background in local authority care. The implications for social work provision are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
The recovery framework as a way of understanding families' responses to mental illness: balancing different needs and recovery journeys
- Authors:
- WYDER Marianne, BLAND Robert
- Journal article citation:
- Australian Social Work, 67(2), 2014, pp.179-196.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Personal recovery is a guiding principle in mental health and suggests that consumers own and are responsible for their own recovery. An exclusive focus on the recovery of those living with mental illness challenges the relevance of recovery concepts to families’ experiences. This paper extends these recovery principles to consider if the recovery framework is helpful in understanding families’ experiences. We distinguished the family's recovery task by recovery-oriented support and the family's own recovery journey. By applying recovery frameworks developed by Davidson et al. and Leamy et al. to these two tasks, we were able to highlight similarities and points of tension between consumer and family recovery tasks. The tasks for families include: (1) maintaining hope; (2) reconnecting; (3) overcoming secondary trauma; and (4) journeying from carer to family. Family response to mental illness is a dynamic, multilayered process rather than a static and enduring role of caregiving. The recovery framework offers an alternative way to understand a family's response to mental illness and suggests possibilities for social work practice with families. (Edited publisher abstract)
Attempting to mainstream ethnicity in a multi-country EU mental health and social inclusion project: lessons for social work
- Authors:
- RAMON Shulamit, RYAN Peter, UREK Mojca
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 13(2), June 2010, pp.163-182.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The article describes the logic, parameters, and methodology of an attempt at mainstreaming ethnicity within the ‘Empowerment of Mental Illness Service Users Through Lifelong Learning Integration and Action’ (EMILIA) project, a European Union 6th framework multi-sites project focused on mental health and social inclusion. This study, spread across eight sites in Southern, Central and Northern Europe, explores the findings of the baseline audit, the ensuing action plans and the changes which followed. Examining the process and its outcomes for mainstreaming across the different sites and the services they provide, it highlights the impact of country-specific policies on disclosure of information relating to ethnicity as well as country and site policies and practices relating to recognising the existence of ethnic inequality and tackling it. Issues underlying formal mainstreaming staff and users’ training are explored. The role of social work within a multi-disciplinary group is examined, and the lessons for European social work are outlined. Main findings include the difficulties encountered in carrying out ethnicity audits, and the relevance of ethnicity audit to staff and users and identified needs for further action. While positive action has been taken by different sites, ethnicity has not been perceived as a major issue for either the staff or the users of the project, which can be explained by the insignificance attached to having ethnic minority clients and staff members within mental health services.
Mental health stigma and discrimination: the experience within social work
- Authors:
- GORMLEY David, QUINN Neil
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 21(4), December 2009, pp.259-272.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The stigma experienced by mental health service users has been examined by many authors but is rarely found within the social work literature. This paper explores the stigma experienced by service users within a social work context, and considers the strategies employed by various individuals and groups seeking to challenge the effects of stigma, highlighting the need to include social work in this debate. Semi-structured interviews were held with 6 social workers and 6 service users to determine their perspectives on some of the key concepts within the stigma discourse, on individuals’ experience of psychiatric services, on the relationships between professionals and service users, and the contribution of a recovery approach in addressing stigma. The paper concludes that local authority social work departments need to play a much more prominent role in tacking mental health stigma and discrimination. This requires policy developments, involvement of service users in planning and development of services, incorporating the experience of stigma within assessments, and improving multi-disciplinary collaboration to tackle stigma and discrimination. In addition, social work academics need to respond to the deficit of research in this area.
Policy prescriptions
- Author:
- DUGGAN Maria
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 14.2.02, 2002, pp.38-39.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Describes how mental health users and practitioners can create new policy and practice within the confines of care trusts and medical models of health.
Experiences of social work intervention among mothers with perinatal mental health needs
- Authors:
- TAYLOR Billie Lever, MOSSE Liberty, STANLEY Nicky
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 27(6), 2019, pp.1586-1596.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Perinatal mental health difficulties are prevalent among women, and the vulnerability of young infants makes this a time when families experiencing multiple adversities may be particularly likely to attract state intervention. However, very little is known about how mothers experience social work intervention during the perinatal period. This study explored experiences of social work intervention among women with perinatal mental health difficulties. Qualitative semi‐structured interviews were carried out with 18 women with 6‐ to 9‐month‐old babies, who had been treated in England for a perinatal mental health difficulty and also had social services intervention. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggested that mothers had a predominantly negative view of children's social services, especially when social workers had significant child protection concerns. The fear of being judged an unfit mother and having their babies taken away overshadowed their encounters. Mothers felt that social workers would not accept they could be good mothers in spite of their difficulties and set them up to fail. Some felt that social workers focused exclusively on the risks to the baby and did not acknowledge the mother's own needs or understand perinatal mental health. In some cases, social work intervention was described as intensifying pressure on mothers’ mental health, leading to escalating difficulties and increased likelihood of care proceedings. At the same time, this study also included examples of mothers forming positive relationships with social workers, and of ‘turning points’ where initially negative interactions stabilised and child protection concerns lessened. Women's accounts highlighted the importance of feeling ‘known’ by social workers who understood and respected them. The findings also suggested there may be value in improving collaboration between social workers and mental health professionals to create more space for representation of women's needs as well as those of their babies. (Edited publisher abstract)
Looking again at troubled families: parents' perspectives on multiple adversities
- Authors:
- BUNTING Lisa, WEBB Mary Anne, SHANNON Rachel
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Social Work, 22(S3), 2017, pp.31-40.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The ‘Troubled Families’ policy and intervention agenda is based on a deficit approach that tends to ignore the role of structural disadvantage in the lives of the families it targets. In an effort to support this rhetoric, both quantitative and qualitative data have been used, and misused, to create a representation of these families, which emphasizes risk and individual blame and minimizes societal factors. This current paper presents findings from an in-depth qualitative study using a biographical narrative approach to explore parents' experiences of multiple adversities at different times over the life-course. Key themes relating to the pattern and nature of adversities experienced by participants provide a more nuanced understanding of the lives of families experiencing multiple and complex problems, highlighting how multiple interpretations are often possible within the context of professional intervention. The findings support the increasing call to move away from procedurally driven, risk averse child protection practice towards more relationally based practice, which addresses not only the needs of all family members but recognizes parents as individuals in their own right. (Publisher abstract)
Perceptions of power in client/worker relationships
- Author:
- COHEN Marcia B.
- Journal article citation:
- Families in Society, 79(4), July 1998, pp.433-442.
- Publisher:
- The Alliance for Children and Families
Recent literature in America on empowerment-oriented social work practice raises questions about the nature of power in client/worker relationships. This qualitative study explores client and worker perceptions of power in their relationships with each other.