Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Mental Health Services: Improving Utilization In Homeless Populations, Gurdeep Mann

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Emergency shelters provide a unique location to offer easily accessible services for unhoused individuals experiencing mental distress and serious mental illness. Housing First interventions do not improve mental health or social integration. It is important to consider alternative approaches to providing care for homeless individuals. This integrated review was undertaken to evaluate existing evidence of interventions that improve mental health awareness and utilization of mental health services among unhoused populations living in shelters. Assertive outreach is an important strategy that was shown to improve effectiveness of mental health programs in shelters; reconnect individuals with family; and help with psychological integration. …

Mental Health Navigators Bridging The Gap Of Care For Clients With Schizophrenia: A Review, Valentina Loreto-Ashley, Valentina Loreto-Ashley

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Background: Schizophrenia is a thought disorder. As such it affects an individual level of function, and often leads to acute hospitalization. When clients with schizophrenia disorders are discharged, they are a great risk for suicide and danger to others. Services aimed at bridging patients from an acute facility to their community setting could be essential in helping the client in treatment to reach functional recovery and avoid relapse.

Objective: This article explores the role of mental health peer navigators in improving treatment adherence for adult clients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder being discharged from a psychiatric facility into their unique community …

Modern Day Colonization: Gentrification As A Public Health Emergency And Its Impact On Health, Safety, And Wellbeing, Theresa Hayes

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper analyzes the impact of gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically in Oakland, and its relationship to the health and wellbeing of communities. It highlights the public health consequences of gentrification, presents recommendations for policies that will mitigate this impact, and encourages behavior change among newcomers as well as long-term residents. To provide an understanding of gentrification and the Bay Area landscape in which it occurs, a comprehensive literature review was conducted and an exhaustive web search was undertaken to obtain all pertinent information related to the topic. Based on the research, recommendations to combat gentrification now …

Using Machine Learning To Analyze Children’S Drawings As Indicators Of Mental Well-Being, Nicholas R. Lawrie

Master's Theses

Human figure drawings are a well-studied diagnostic tool for emotional distress in children. Cleft lip/palate is one of the most common birth defects in the world, and has been shown to negatively impact emotional well-being in childhood which can have negative economic consequences in adulthood. Utilizing a dataset of human figure drawings from children in India and survey data on mental health, this paper will assess the impact of corrective surgery on mental health outcomes, as well as assess the validity of the drawing emotional indicators themselves. The results indicate that while the emotional indicators may not be valid in …

Addressing The Phenomena Of Nursing Burnout: Seeking The Need For Mental Health Interventions To Support The Nursing Workforce, Cialina L. Moy

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: Nursing burnout has been an existing phenomenon, which the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated. Burnout has contributed to escalated mental health concerns, increased staff turnover rates, and the nationwide nursing shortage.

Context: Studies indicate that depression, anxiety, and stress significantly correlate to burnout; studies also reveal that burnout consequently contributes to job dissatisfaction and organizational turnover. To reduce perceived burnout and increase nurse retention at the ambulatory COVID-19 clinics, nurses completed a pilot program that integrated two mental health tools.

Intervention: Nurses responded to a pre-survey to identify burnout factors and measure perceived burnout, using a modification of the …

Preventing Self-Harm Among Adolescent Victims Of Adverse Child Experiences Integrated Review, Irene Tsimba Zenga, Trinette Radasta, Julie Maxworthy

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Background: Evidence shows a clear connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health disorders in adolescence. If not treated, adolescent victims of ACEs could develop maladaptive behaviors such as self-mutilation and suicidal ideation. The standard therapies to treat this population are psychotropic medications or cognitive behavior therapy.

Search Methodology: Ten studies from a literature search on CINAHL, PubMed, APA PsychInfo, and Joanna Briggs databases were selected, appraised, and reviewed.

Integrated Review: Studies were grouped into six types: (a) screening for ACEs, (b) usual care and alternative therapies, (c) ineffectiveness of usual care, (d) comprehensive treatment that included trauma-informed therapy, …