Factors Affecting the Usage Rate for Mental Health Sections of College and University Health Services

Abstract

The history of the Mental Health Annual Program Survey (MHAPS) is briefly reviewed. Characteristics of the institutions participating in MHAPS during the 1975–76 program year are reported. Usage rate data for the sample are reviewed, and the procedures employed in determining the predictors of sample variability in mental health section usage rate are described. Variability in usage rate was regressed against six categories of variables: institutional characteristics, alternative available resources, mental health section staffing levels and staffing patterns, allocations of staff time, and programming options. When the significant predictors included in these six categories were pooled, five variables were sufficient to account for 95% of usage rate variance. The number of weekly interview hours per 1000 full-time students and the proportion of full-time staff each accounted for 29% of usage rate variance. Visits per patient accounted for 18%, time allocated to consultative services for 10%, and the availability of off-campus resources for 8%. The effects that changes in the values of the predictors can be expected to have on usage rate are illustrated, and the implications of these results for the use of comparative data are discussed.     

Community College Programs for the Human Services

A national survey of 2-year human services programs in community colleges revealed the current status of these programs and identified significant trends in areas such as program number, curriculum design, standard-setting mechanisms, student composition and career paths, and faculty affiliation. Of particular interest was the relationship of these programs and their graduates to social work education and the social services job market. Among the principal findings were (a) these programs are in a period of renewed growth and (b) a need and an opportunity exist for the social work profession, particularly social work education, to be constructively involved in this level of education.     

Group Involvement and Democratic Orientations: Social Capital in the Postelection Context

Objective . This article tests the relationship between involvement in voluntary associations and attitudinal changes considered supportive of democratic principles and system legitimacy. Methods . We utilize 1996 pre- and postelection American National Election Studies panel data to test the proposed relationship. The effects of reported levels of group involvement are examined across three attitudinal measures of democratic support: trust in government, external efficacy, and absolute differences in postelection evaluations of the winning and losing candidates. Results . Greater involvement in voluntary organizations contributes to increased levels of postelection trust in government and external efficacy and a reduction in postelection polarization of comparative candidate evaluations. Conclusions . In addition to supporting the social capital proposition linking group involvement to orientations viewed as enhancing of democracy, this study also contributes to a growing literature linking individual-level behavior to changes in systemic-level attitudes.     

On the myth of believing that globalization is a myth: or the effects of misdirected responses on obsolescing an emergent substantive discourse

The December 2003 special issue of the Journal of International Management sought to initiate a dialogue on globalization and the role of the global corporation (Bird and Stevens, 2003). We attempt to carry that dialogue forward by responding to several objections that were raised by critics in that issue. Their comments prompted us to take a fresh look at our own perspective, as well as to critically examine theirs. In so doing, we find not only persuasive evidence that globalization is very much alive and well, but we also find that caution is warranted if readers wish to avoid misdirected responses that would otherwise obsolesce an emerging substantive discourse on the phenomenon of globalization. We are encouraged that the special issue has stimulated continued dialogue and invite others to join the conversation on this important phenomenon of globalization.     

The Sociology of Death and Dying: An Overview

This paper reviews the main sociological responses to death and dying by overviewing the central literature in the area known as the ‘Sociology of Death’. The main findings and arguments are outlined and analysed in three sections which cover the Anthropology of Death, the Sociology of Death and the Sociology of Dying. Criticism is summarised at the end of the paper and a suggestion is offered for future work in the area. It is concluded that an examination of dying from the perspective of those dying will give us a more complex understanding of different patterns of death. Such an analysis will fill the large gaps in our present knowledge about the dying process. It will also heavily contrast with simplistic views of dying formed by an over attention to the care givers' realities.     

Resolutions

Abstract

A means of monitoring therapists' conformity with policy in a mental health clinic is the examination of annual utilization data. Specifically, graphs which display the frequency of different lengths of patient contracts reveal much about the working realities of how a clinic actually functions. Data from the mental health clinic at the University of Rochester's Student Health Service illustrate changes in staffing and ideology over a seven year period. The graph of current utilization reveals three relatively distinct cohorts of patients. Each cohort can be explicated with regard to clinical needs of patients, staff educational needs, or the clinic's embrace of time-limited therapy as a valued treatment modality. Periodic examination of such graphs can reveal whether actual practices correspond to stated ideology and policy.     

Elder Participation and Senior Power in Australian Electoral Politics

This article seeks to assess the “goodness of fit” between the social science literature on the impact of older voters on electoral outcomes and the Australian experience of the politics of aging. While the literature suggests that the notion of senior power is a flawed one, Australia's 2004 federal election campaign indicated that this is not quite so. This article offers a possible explanation for the difference between the literature and the Australian experience in terms of the calculus that underpinned the election campaign, namely, capturing the votes of swing voters in marginal seats including “silver” swing voters in seats with a disproportionate number of older voters. The preliminary findings of a small exploratory study of campaign strategists suggest that there may be a real basis to this explanation. Thus, there does appear to be some basis for asserting that “gray power” does play a role in Australian national electoral politics.     

Social Density of Gambling and Its Association with Gambling Problems: An Initial Investigation

The role of social factors in pathological gambling has received relatively little systematic research. The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between a target individual’s gambling behavior and the gambling behavior among that individual’s parents, siblings and five closest friends. The specific aims were, first, to apply a novel brief assessment to study the social density of factors relating to pathological gambling; second, to replicate previously observed findings involving the social aggregation of alcohol and tobacco use; and third, to examine social density findings among the three domains. Participants were 128 frequent gamblers from the Athens, Georgia area, 79.7 % male with a mean age of 34.2 (SD = 11.7). Participants were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Severity for gambling severity, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for alcohol abuse, the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence for tobacco use, and the novel Brief Social Density of Gambling, Alcohol, and Tobacco Assessment. Significant relationships were observed between participants’ and friends’ activity within all domains: gambling (ps = .001), alcohol use (p < .001) and tobacco use (p < .001). Relationships with friends’ activity across domains were less strong. Distinct patterns of associations with parents and siblings were not observed. Thus, social aggregation was observed across the three domains of potentially addictive behaviors, generally with specificity within domains and with friends, not biological relatives. Methodological considerations and potential applications of these findings are discussed.