Inequalities in Mental Health: the Inner City Mental Health Project

This paper draws on the evidence of a 3-year evaluation study of an inner city mental health project. Innovative service developments aimed at Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities are described, as are the reactions of providers of mainstream mental health services to these initiatives. The structural position of special projects aimed at Black communities is explored in relation to mainstream mental health services, as are the difficulties which may be encountered by service users and project staff when the project is integrated into mainstream mental health services.     

Primary Prevention Mental Health Programs: The Future is Exciting

Current outcome research on primary prevention mental health programs is encouraging and the future is exciting. Data continue to accumulate regarding the efficacy of preventive intervention. Exemplary programs can prevent multiple problems across different outcome domains suggesting the need for collaboration among preventionists across disciplines and research areas. The commentators on our review (Durlak and Wells, 1997) offered many useful suggestions to improve the next generation of research. Most recommendations fall broadly under the rubric of increasing the precision of theory, design, and program evaluation. If current recommendations for improving future research are followed, the next reviewers of primary prevention mental health programs for children and adolescents will have a more complete and useful database for analysis.     

Telemedicine in Primary Health: The Virtual Doctor Project Zambia

Physician-researchers are bound by professional obligations stemming from both the role of the physician and the role of the researcher. Currently, the dominant models for understanding the relationship between physician-researchers' clinical duties and research duties fit into three categories: the similarity position, the difference position and the middle ground. The law may be said to offer a fourth "model" that is independent from these three categories. These models frame the expectations placed upon physician-researchers by colleagues, regulators, patients and research participants. This paper examines the extent to which the data from semi-structured interviews with 30 physician-researchers at three major pediatric hospitals in Canada reflect these traditional models. It seeks to determine the extent to which existing models align with the described lived experience of the pediatric physician-researchers interviewed. Ultimately, we find that although some physician-researchers make references to something like the weak version of the similarity position, the pediatric-researchers interviewed in this study did not describe their dual roles in a way that tightly mirrors any of the existing theoretical frameworks. We thus conclude that either physician-researchers are in need of better training regarding the nature of the accountability relationships that flow from their dual roles or that models setting out these roles and relationships must be altered to better reflect what we can reasonably expect of physician-researchers in a real-world environment.     

The School-Based Mental Health Collaboration (SBMHC): A Multi-Level University-School Partnership

This article describes The School-Based Mental Health Collaboration (SBMHC), a novel school-based mental health partnership between Teachers College, Columbia University, and several high-poverty public grade schools in New York City. SBMHC is grounded in attachment and mentalization theory and practice. It applies nested mentalization to multilevel work with all school stakeholders, encouraging school leaders, faculty, staff, and parents to use mentalization with children, many of whom have experienced trauma. Graduate students serve as classroom consultants (CC), spending a half day per week in the classroom observing, doing push-in interventions, co-teaching a social-emotional learning curriculum, coaching the teacher, and making referrals for children. CCs follow up on referrals and coordinate among parents, teachers, and off-site providers. The CCs in turn receive weekly didactics and reflective clinical supervision. SBMHC works with school leaders to assess the school’s social-emotional climate, identify unmet need for mental health services, and locate low-cost providers in the community. SBMHC is a promising model that aims to enhance social-emotional learning for all students while also identifying and referring symptomatic students. It thus combines universal and targeted approaches to serving high-risk students at low-resourced schools.     

Evaluation of Training in Mental Health

Abstract

This paper reports on the use of cinema therapy at a psychiatry clinic for inpatients. The program, “Watching Cinema Group Therapy,” was used with over 500 inpatients over the course of one year. We found that using movies for group psychotherapy sessions encouraged the patients to talk about their beliefs, thoughts, and feelings while discussing the characters and stories. We also used the movies as a reward for patients who had developed a therapeutic alliance. It motivated the patients to be active instead of simply remaining in their rooms. As a follow-up to full-length films, it was more useful to show short scenes to patients who had been administered high doses of drugs. Movies can be an important, positive, and productive means of treatment and teaching.     

Performance of Mental Health Counselors in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care

Integrated primary and behavioral health care (IPBH) is becoming a preferred mode of service delivery in the United States. Integrated care includes the participation of medical and mental health professionals, such as mental health counselors. The clinical outcomes of these professionals need to be studied to determine their effectiveness in such settings. We examined the performance of 10 mental health counselors on the clinical outcome of 1,747 clients treated in an IPBH center. Analyses using growth curve modeling and pre‐post test design revealed that mental health counselors were effective overall, but they differed in client dropout rates and efficiency in reducing clients' initial symptoms. We used the analyses to rank order counselors based on their effectiveness. Counselors who were the most effective varied in their efficiency but demonstrated the lowest client dropout rates. Implications for future research and counseling practice were discussed.     

老子道法自然的心理保健观初探

文章结合心理保健,对老子《道德经》的精髓＂道法自然＂进行现代阐释,探索符合当代国人的道法自然的心理保健观。文章主要探索了道法自然心理保健观的原则,方法及研究意义。道法自然的心理保健观的基本原则是＂无为＂、＂不争＂、＂守弱＂,由此延伸出道法自然心理保健观的基本方法＂致虚守静＂,＂抱一＂。道法自然心理保健观的研究意义在于它不仅适合中国人内道外儒的民族性格,还能使个体有效应对当前复杂多变的环境。     

Evaluation of Indicated Preventive Intervention (Secondary Prevention) Mental Health Programs for Children and Adolescents

Evaluated the outcomes of 130 indicated preventive interventions (secondary prevention) mental health programs for children and adolescents that seek to identify early signs of maladjustment and to intervene before full-blown disorders develop. Results indicate such programs significantly reduce problems and significantly increase competencies. In particular, behavioral and cognitive-behavior programs for children with subclinical disorders (mean ESs in the 0.50s) appear as effective as psychotherapy for children with established problems and more effective than attempts to prevent adolescent smoking, alcohol use, and delinquency. In practical terms, the average participant receiving behavioral or cognitive-behavior intervention surpasses the performance of approximately 70% of those in a control group. Of particular interest was the high mean effect (0.72) achieved by programs targeting incipient externalizing problems which are customarily the least amenable to change via traditional psychotherapeutic efforts when they reach clinical levels. Priorities for future research include greater specification of intervention procedures, assessment of treatment implementation, more follow-up studies, and identifying how different participants respond to early intervention.     

The Sabbath: Implications for Mental Health

Jewish tradition established the Sabbath as a special day. Its observance was both part of a religious tradition and an example of psychological health. The author explores the values and attitudes that underlie Sabbath observance, identifies some of the themes and behaviors most characteristic of these observances, and relates these to current mental health practices.     

The development and validation of the Arabic Scale Of Mental Health (ASMH)

The objective of this research was to develop and validate the Arabic Scale of Mental Health (ASMH) as a generic screening measure and research tool for adults and adolescents. Several samples of both sexes were recruited (N = 3,619). Their ages ranged between 15 and 71 years. The scale has two equivalent versions: Aravic and English. TheASMH comprises 40 brief statements plus 10 filler items. Principal components analysis yielded six components labeled: satisfaction, self-confidence, optimism, enjoyment, meaningful life, and stability. Item-remainder correlations ranged between .31 and .79. Reliabilities in these samples indicated good internal consistency (alphas= .94 to .96) and temporal stability (7- to 10-day test-retest r = .84 to .94). The ASMH significantly and positively correlated with measures of happiness, satisfaction with life, hope, optimism, love of life, and self-actualization, from which one salient component was identified. Therefore, initial convergent and factorial validities were adequate. Male undergraduates obtained a higher mean score than did both their female counterparts and male employed workers, but the effect size was small. It was concluded that the ASMH has good psychometric characteristics in its Arabic version. The English version merits investigation in a cross-cultural study.     

Implementing a Primary Mental Health Service for Children: Administrator and Provider Perspectives

The Child Mental Health Service (CMHS) is an Australian primary care program introduced in July 2010 to provide mental healthcare to children who have, or are at risk of, developing psychological disorders. The Australian Government provided supports (e.g., training for mental health professionals), resources (e.g., funding for positions devoted to fostering inter-agency linkages or partnerships) and various flexibilities in service delivery. This study aimed to explore the processes used in the implementation of the CMHS in order to achieve its objectives of delivering a high quality standard of service, and forging linkages and support networks with other relevant health and non-health agencies. Structured interviews were conducted with 20 program administrators, six referring professionals and eight mental health professionals. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed for themes using NVivo. The CMHS appears to have made good progress towards achieving its objectives by implementing processes that facilitated the delivery of a high quality service (e.g., engaging appropriately qualified, and encouraging additional training and clinical support for, mental health professionals; employing quality assurance mechanisms and clinical governance arrangements) and establishment of inter-agency linkages (e.g., devoting a professional role—Coordination and Liaison—to this purpose). Provider perspectives suggest that the CMHS has had a positive impact on children and their families. Comparable countries implementing primary mental health programs for children may benefit from considering similar additional supports (e.g., training for mental health professionals), resources (e.g., funding positions devoted to fostering service inter-agency linkages) and service delivery flexibilities as those available in the CMHS.     

Primary Prevention Mental Health Programs for Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analytic Review

Used meta-analysis to review 177 primary prevention programs designed to prevent behavioral and social problems in children and adolescents. Findings provide empirical support for further research and practice in primary prevention. Most categories of programs produced outcomes similar to or higher in magnitude than those obtained by many other established preventive and treatment interventions in the social sciences and medicine. Programs modifying the school environment, individually focused mental health promotion efforts, and attempts to help children negotiate stressful transitions yield significant mean effects ranging from 0.24 to 0.93. In practical terms, the average participant in a primary prevention program surpasses the performance of between 59% to 82% of those in a control group, and outcomes reflect an 8% to 46% difference in success rates favoring prevention groups. Most categories of programs had the dual benefit of significantly reducing problems and significantly increasing competencies. Priorities for future research include clearer specification of intervention procedures and program goals, assessment of program implementation, more follow-up studies, and determining how characteristics of the intervention and participants relate to different outcomes.     

心理健康培训对医护人员心理健康服务的影响

为探讨医护人员心理健康培训现状以及对心理健康服务的影响,采用《医护人员心理健康教育培训问卷》与《心理健康服务行为量表》对664名医护人员进行问卷调查。结果发现,分别有91.6%、65.2%的医护人员学习过心理健康相关课程或接受过相关培训,70.3%通过科普宣传途径学习心理健康知识;心理健康教育和培训正向预测心理健康服务,能够增加8.5%解释变异量。因此,医护人员接受心理健康教育与培训的内容和途径较为单一,对医护人员加强心理健康相关教育培训,可以增加其心理健康服务。     

心理健康观念对心理症状的影响研究

1　前言　　人的行为受观念影响 ,心理健康状况也是如此。如基于2 0 0个相关研究的分析表明 ,有较高的精神信仰 (spirituali ty)水平的人表现为较少的精神问题。Levy等发现 ,有积极生活观念的人 ,比持消极、否定性生活观念的人多存活了 7.6年。有报告消极的竞争观念与与身心症状、抑郁有直接关系。不仅如此 ,对“心理健康”现象的看法也影响着心理健康行为。如美国人常常认为 ,“心理疾病的人是不稳定的和有危险的。”等等。这样的看法 ,导致了人们回避与心理疾病的交往 ,障碍了心理患者就医。Corrigan认为 ,心理疾病的耻辱化标签和偏见加…     

The Concerned Mental Health Practitioner

Summary

A discussion is provided regarding a fundamental principle of psychology, a concern for other's welfare, as set out in the American Psychological Association's (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Although the principle concern for others' welfare is essentially aspirational in nature, this is an ethical principle that is at the core of the mental health professions' stated values, and that must be positively put into operation in a variety of professional contexts. Unlike so much else in professional ethics codes that involves injunctions of what not to do, or which attempts to limit the self-serving tendencies of professionals, this general principle is essentially positive, pointing to the need to approach others and to consider their welfare first.     

中小学生心理健康服务体系模式的构建

我国中小学生心理健康服务虽取得了较大的发展,但还存在地区发展不平衡、实施条件较差、形式主义倾向严重等诸多问题.为加强我国中小学生心理健康服务体系建设,文章提出了中小学生心理健康服务体系建设的理论模型,具体包括促进学生心理健康水平的心理健康教育体系、矫正学生心理健康问题的心理咨询服务体系、预防突发事件治疗学生心理疾病的心理疾病治疗与危机干预体系等三个子系统,以建立一个符合我国中小学实际的学生心理健康服务体系.     

超越心理健康：精神健康的追求

区别于一般心理概念的、狭义的精神概念有三个特征:终极关怀、内发自生以及自由意志。诸如精神信仰危机、生活目标迷茫等区别于传统心理问题的精神问题已经成为现代人的顽疾。现代心理健康标准开始关注并尝试吸纳精神健康。精神健康是21世纪的健康主题,现代人不应仅仅满足于生理和心理的健康,还应寻求更高层次的精神健康。