Coalitions on mental health and aging: lessons learned for policy and practice

Elders with mental health needs have been poorly served. Private and government agencies have given this issue a low priority, which is reflected in service delivery and funding. Coalitions have developed in states around the country and have engaged in a variety of tasks, including training techniques and collaborative efforts to advocate successfully for appropriate services. While accomplishments vary, the coalitions should continue their work, and others should organize in order to reach the goal of having accessible and appropriate elder mental health services.     

Promoting mental health. Lesbian nurse support groups.

1. Although an underground network of lesbian nurses has existed for years and they are powerful in their leadership in various specialty organizations, many lesbian nurses make themselves "known" only to a few close people. 2. The Lesbian Nurse Interest Group was formed to support lesbian nurses through difficult periods and to discuss unique areas of concern. 3. The group helps to combine all aspects of a lesbian nurse's life and to empower the members to address personal and professional issues.     

Helping parents with mental illnesses and their children: a call for family-focused mental health care

1. Large numbers of individuals with mental illnesses are parents to minor children. 2. Recommendations to improve services suggest that services provided by the adult mental health system and child service agencies be coordinated. 3. Nursing care intersects both the adult and child systems, and nurses have the expertise to offer a variety of services. 4. There is an urgent need to improve family-focused mental health nursing care to benefit parents with mental illnesses, their children and families, and the overall community and society.     

Open spaces for dialogue promoting mental health as a social work education methodology

ABSTRACT

The authors discuss service user involvement as a key approach regarding training of social workers. In many European Union countries this is a stable practice with a lengthy tradition in research and application. However, in Poland it is almost entirely absent and marginalized. This article presents the results of a participatory action research project conducted at the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the objective of which was to identify and critically analyze the key substantive and formal aspects of training of social workers with the participation of individuals with experience of mental illness. This research project adopted an open approach to cognizing reality based on qualitative co-participatory methods. In the conclusion, the authors emphasize that the fundamental criterion for the success of this particular form of training is voluntary and differentiated participation of students—both in the role of people sharing their own experience and as learners—as well as shaping a culture of open dialogue, educational alliances of recognition and recovery, the foundation of which is axiological experience.     

回家过节

圣诞节和春节最重要的部是和家人团聚。作为生活在美国的美籍华人,能和整个大家族一起生活的时间并不算太多,可家仍然是我们重要的一部分。在圣诞节和春节这两个中美最重要的佳节到来时,家的重要性和永久的魅力能超越时间、距离和各种分歧。     

The ten commitments: a value base for mental health recovery

The concept of recovery is an important part of contemporary mental health services. During the past 5 years, Tidal Model projects, focused on developing the recovery attitude within nursing practice, have been established in several different countries. The Tidal model emphasizes 10 philosophical assumptions the "Ten Commitments," that are central to recovery-focused practice.     

Disaster mental health services: a personal perspective

1. Services that may be provided by psychiatric-mental health nurses following a disaster include education, intervention, problem solving, advocacy, and referral. 2. Nurses providing disaster mental health services must be flexible and creative. Strong observational skills and teamwork are also essential characteristics in disaster settings. 3. Psychiatric-mental health nurses who wish to receive training for disaster mental health volunteer opportunities should contact their local chapter of the American Red Cross.     

Patient satisfaction with mental health services: a meta-analysis to establish norms

Patients typically express high rates of satisfaction with their mental health care. This finding and the lack of well controlled studies on patient satisfaction in the literature underscore the need for meaningful guidelines for clinicians and program evaluators in interpreting patient satisfaction data. To address this problem a meta-analysis was undertaken to establish norms on patient satisfaction for various types of mental health programs. Programs were categorized according to three dimensions: inpatient vs. outpatient vs. residential care; chronic vs. non-chronic; and conventional vs. innovative. Meta-analysis procedures were modified to accommodate the single-group study designs that dominate the literature. The analysis revealed that chronic patients express less satisfaction with their treatment compared to non-chronic patients. Innovative programs are viewed more positively than conventional ones. No differences were found in rates of patient satisfaction between inpatient and outpatient programs. Acceptably reliable norms and confidence intervals of patient satisfaction were established for conventional inpatient programs serving either chronic or non-chronic patients; conventional outpatient programs for non-chronic patients; and for all programs combined according to chronic vs. non-chronic, inpatient vs. outpatient, and conventional vs. innovative. However, data were insufficient to compute norms for other program types. The norms thus established can be used for comparative purposes by program evaluators. A cumulative, national data base on patient satisfaction is recommended to further refine these norms.     

A research agenda for the black middle class: work stress, survival strategies, and mental health

In this article we discuss the social position of the black middle class and two forms of work stress that appear unique to this group: token stress and social rejection. We outline a research agenda for studying: (1) the relationship between these stressors and mental health in the context of the work environment, and (2) the type of strategies that appear especially efficacious (or problematic) with regard to these problems. We begin the paper with a contextual discussion of the black middle class. We then offer a set of theoretical predictions about the relationship between work stress and mental health among middle class African Americans. We conclude the article with recommendations for future research, and we identify the implications of the research agenda for social policy efforts to diversify the workplace.     

The mental health recovery movement and family therapy, part II: a collaborative, appreciative approach for supporting mental health recovery

A continuation of Part I, which introduced mental health recovery concepts to family therapists, Part II of this article outlines a collaborative, appreciative approach for working in recovery-oriented contexts. This approach draws primarily upon postmodern therapies, which have numerous social justice and strength-based practices that are easily adapted in recovery-oriented contexts. The model outlined in this article includes an overview of the recovery partnership (i.e., therapeutic relationship), mapping recovery (i.e., assessment and case conceptualization), recovery planning (i.e., treatment planning), facilitating recovery (i.e., intervention), accessing resources (i.e., case management), recovery maintenance, and service contexts as well as a case study.     

Sexual health education group for adolescents with mental problems

1. Providing sexual health education for adolescents with mental health problems presents a difficult but important clinical task. 2. Using a group format for this task is an effective way to provide information about sexual health and promote positive coping strategies related to relationships and sexual issues. 3. Group leaders need to be aware of their own values related to sexual issues and have the ability to be frank and nonjudgmental.     

An equality of condition framework for user involvement in mental health policy and planning: evidence from participatory action research

Discussions about user involvement in the mental health services tend to throw up four major areas of concern: the capacity of service users to participate, their lack of participation skills, the need for a positive organisational culture and the need for arenas of participation. This article presents evidence from participatory action research with Irish mental health service users which explored how they could more equally participate in advisory committees. Participants identified barriers to their equal participation due to unequal cultural, physical, mental and economic resources, time, power, ‘stigma’(prejudice) and lack of respect for their experiential knowledge and emotional expression. These barriers fall within the ‘equality of condition framework’ developed by Baker and colleagues. Enabling equal user involvement in strategic decision‐making requires more than arenas of participation – it requires comprehensively addressing service users’ structural disadvantages throughout the process of involvement.     

Issues in mental health care benefits: the costs of mental health parity

This Issue Brief discusses issues in mental health care benefits. It describes the current state of employment-based mental health benefits and discusses studies and issues regarding full mental health parity. It also includes an analysis of the effect of full mental parity on the uninsured population and the effects of the limited mental health parity provision contained in the VA-HUD appropriations bill. The final section discusses the implications of mental health parity for health plans and health insurers. When employers began to provide health insurance benefits to their employees and their families, they extended coverage to include mental health benefits under the same terms as other health care services. Many employers continued to add mental health benefits through the 1970s and early 1980s until cost pressures required employers to re-examine all health care benefits that were offered. They quickly found that, while only a small proportion of the beneficiaries used mental health care services, the costs associated with this care were very high. As a result, employers placed limits on mental health benefits in an attempt to make the insurance risk more manageable. The general strategies employers have used to manage their health care costs are cost sharing, utilization review, managed care, and the packaging of provider services. Employers' cost management strategies may be restricted, however. Five states have mental health parity laws, but three of the states--Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire--apply these laws only to the seriously mentally ill. In addition, 31 states mandate that mental health benefits be provided. However, state mandates apply only to insured plans, not to self-insured employer plans, which are exempt from state regulation of health plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). A number of recent studies have examined the effect of mental health parity on health insurance premiums in a "typical" preferred provider organization and on the uninsured. In general, the studies concluded that mental health parity could increase health insurance premiums, decrease health insurance coverage for non-mental health related illnesses, and increase the number of uninsured individuals. All studies of mental health parity, and mandated benefits in general, assume that there is a strong likelihood that increased health benefit costs would be passed along to workers in the form of higher cost sharing for health insurance, lower wage growth, or lower growth in other employee benefits.