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African American Clergy's Attitude Toward Professional Mental Health Services, Ebony Gaffney Jan 2016

African American Clergy's Attitude Toward Professional Mental Health Services, Ebony Gaffney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Evaluating the attitude of African American clergy toward parishioners seeking professional mental health services for mental illness has important treatment implications. Religion and spirituality are equally important determinants of mental health and can affect African American clergy's attitudes toward professional care for mental illness. Utilizing the health belief model (HBM), this quantitative study examined the role of theological beliefs, education, and personal experience with mental illness as they correlated with clergy's attitudes toward seeking professional mental illness services. Approximately 98 African American Protestant Clergy in the states of Georgia and South Carolina participated in this study. Data were collected using …


Initiating Nicotine Cessation In A Community Mental Health Center, Rosalind R. Keith Jan 2016

Initiating Nicotine Cessation In A Community Mental Health Center, Rosalind R. Keith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals suffering from mental illness are often adversely affected by tobacco use. Historically, clinicians are reluctant and inadequately prepared to recognize and treat comorbid nicotine addiction in the chronic mentally ill (CMI) client. As evidenced by a review of the literature, healthcare providers are missing opportunities for nicotine cessation treatment. There is a lack of educational preparation amongst clinicians to treat nicotine addition and a concern that treatment of nicotine addiction can negatively impact existing psychiatric disorders. The purpose of this project was to create an educational plan for nicotine cessation for CMI clients at a community health center. The …


High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Mental Health And Adolescent Depression, Christine Ann Breuer Jan 2016

High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Mental Health And Adolescent Depression, Christine Ann Breuer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescents have a high rate of untreated mental health issues, specifically related to depression. Current literature does not indicate the impact of teachers' attitudes toward mental health on their decisions to refer students for services. This study provides understanding specifically, how teachers' beliefs about mental health, as well as their age, gender, ethnicity, years of education, and years of teaching, were analyzed to determine the impact each these characteristics had on the decision to refer a student for services. 92 high school teachers participated in this quantitative study by completing a survey measuring their attitudes of mental health, and then …


Clergy Characteristics As Predictors Of Mental Health Literacy, Jodi Vermaas Vermaas Jan 2016

Clergy Characteristics As Predictors Of Mental Health Literacy, Jodi Vermaas Vermaas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The mental health literacy (MHL) rates of Christian clergy in the United States remains underinvestigated in the current literature. This gap of knowledge is problematic for the large numbers of individuals with mental illness who seek assistance from clergy and may receive inadequate care for their concerns. As theoretically designated by the behavioral models of health care and MHL research, denomination-type, educational variables, and demographic characteristics were investigated as potential predictors of MHL. A sample of 238 Christian clergy from throughout the United States completed the web-based Mental Health Literacy Scale and demographic questionnaire. Results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) …


Transforming Care Of The Behavioral Health Patient In An Emergency Department Setting, Theresa J. Kubiel Jan 2016

Transforming Care Of The Behavioral Health Patient In An Emergency Department Setting, Theresa J. Kubiel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Behavioral and mental health issues contribute to the needs of many patients presenting to emergency departments, and yet these needs often go unrecognized. Patient processing procedures in emergency departments may not include mechanisms to consistently identify and triage patients whose care is complicated by behavioral illness. The purpose of this project was to plan a program to improve early identification and management of behavioral health patients presenting to the emergency department. The objective of this project was to develop a rapid mental health screening tool and policies guiding use of the tool in the emergency department. A multi-disciplinary team of …


The Perception Of African American Clergy Regarding Mental Health Services, Tamara White Jan 2016

The Perception Of African American Clergy Regarding Mental Health Services, Tamara White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rise in diagnosable mental illness disorders in the United States is a major concern. However, researchers indicate that African Americans are far less likely to seek mental health treatment than Caucasian Americans. This qualitative, phenomenological study addressed a research gap regarding the beliefs, perceptions, stigmas, and practices of African American clergy regarding their promotion of mental health services. Two conceptual frameworks consisting of the sociocultural theory and the social learning theory guided the study. There were two research questions used to guide the exploration of the purposive sampling of 6 African American clergy from major African American denominations across …