Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Designing And Implementing A De-Escalation Toolkit To Improve Staff Education And Competency On De-Escalation Within A Mental Health Outpatient Setting, Balraj Bajwa

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a de-escalation toolkit to help improve memory, retention, and utility of de-escalation techniques within an outpatient mental health crisis stabilization unit.

Problem: The aforementioned crisis stabilization unit has elevated rates of patient aggression/violence and staff present with difficulty recalling de-escalation techniques due to the lapse in memory and/or retention.

Methods: The project was introduced to the stakeholders of the crisis stabilization unit and input was obtained on the design and components of the toolkit. Various analyses were conducted to ensure the appropriate implementation of the project.

Intervention: A de-escalation …

The Ecology Of Mental Health And The Impact Of Barriers On Mental Health Service Utilization, Alisha Aggarwal

Theses & Dissertations

Mental health has emerged as a major public health concern in recent times with several disparities and barriers related to adequate health service utilization. Different age groups experience diverse symptoms and face distinct barriers in accessing and utilizing healthcare. Policies like Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were launched to improve insurance coverage and delivery of mental health services. However, a large gap of unmet needs exists for adequate mental health service utilization in the country. This dissertation aims to describe the financial and non-financial barriers to mental health service utilization …

Giving Birth At A Critical Time: Assessing Perinatal Depression Among Syrian Refugees In Low Resource Settings, Nada Alnaji

Theses & Dissertations

Refugee mothers are at an increased risk of suffering from stress and mental health conditions during the first year after giving birth to a child. The objective of this study is to enhance the early identification of treatable mental health conditions among perinatal women living within humanitarian settings. The central hypothesis is that a culturally specific approach can be helpful for the long-term success of mental health efforts. In this study, we use qualitative interview methods to understand the cultural paradigms and predisposing factors for perinatal depression related to being a Syrian refugee in Lebanon during the COVID-19 pandemic. In …

Peer-Led Building Resilience And Enhancing Social-Emotional Skills Program, Danielle K. Enrico

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The purpose of the Capstone experience was to develop and implement a five-week peer-led building resilience and social-emotional skills training program at a public high school. This program addressed high school students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding resources, social-emotional skills, and resilience. A questionnaire was administered pre and post-program to measure effectiveness. The results indicated an increase in scores, demonstrating a clearer understanding in all three areas.

The Acute And Persisting Impact Of Covid-19 On Trajectories Of Adolescent Depression: Sex Differences And Social Connectedness, Sabrina R. Liu, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Anton M. Palma, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The COVID-19 era is a time of unprecedented stress, and there is widespread concern regarding its short- and long-term mental health impact. Adolescence is a sensitive period for the emergence of latent psychopathology vulnerabilities, often activated by environmental stressors. The present study examined COVID-19′s impact on adolescent depression and possible influences of different domains of social connectedness (loneliness, social media use, social video game time, degree of social activity participation).

Methods

A community sample of 175 adolescents (51% boys, mean age = 16.01 years) completed questionnaires once before and twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Piecewise growth modeling examined the …

Advancing Behavioral Health Literacy, James Scollione

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Accessing, comprehending, and using information to make informed decisions and improve one’s overall health or well-being are the foci of health literacy. The concept of behavioral health was introduced in the early 1980s and, since then, it has influenced new ideas (e.g., behavioral health literacy and integrated behavioral health care) and gained research and public attention. My aim is to provide an overview of definitions (i.e., health literacy, mental health literacy, and behavioral health literacy) and their connection to each other. I propose an expanded and honed definition of behavioral health literacy to enhance the behavioral health literacy and well-being …

Training And Individual Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Serious Mental Illness Amongst Clinical Psychology Doctoral Students, Lauren K. O'Connor

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Clinical psychologists are grossly underrepresented in treatment provision for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI; Roe, Yanos, Lysaker, 2006). Systemic (e.g., emergence of managed care) and training-based (e.g., limitations to SMI specific training) factors contribute to the establishment of this underrepresentation, while mental health stigma amongst psychologists may play a role in perpetuating it. Many individual and experiential factors have been found to impact clinicians’ attitudes toward those with SMI (Henderson et al., 2014; Schulzes, 2007). Though many of these factors are present and relevant from the beginning of one’s career and may involve elements related to training, little research …

Adolescent Girls Physical Activity Engagement And Body Image Development, Vanessa Coulbeck

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This summer I looked more into adolescent girls’ physical activity engagement and its’ relationship to weight-based teasing. This topic intrigued me because from my own sport experiences, I saw first-hand how compared to boys, adolescent girls dis-engage from sport and exercise at a disproportionately higher rate and are at higher risk for body shame and self-objectification. This gender inequity in sport and physical activity is first observed in adolescence and tracks well into adulthood. The purpose of this summer's research activities examined how self-compassion and weight-related teasing relate to self-conscious emotions and sport and physical activity participation.

Longitudinal Trauma Treatment Outcomes In An Immigrant And Refugee Sample, Shuen-En Ho

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Refugee and immigrant populations are at an increased risk of having posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and exhibit a significant amount of variance in trauma treatment outcomes that may be impacted by sociocultural factors. This study examines the impact of demographic variables on treatment outcome and trajectory of PTSD symptoms in a clinic setting with trauma-focused treatments in refugee/immigrant and general populations. Data was collected from the electronic medical record at the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress. A total of 817 participants completed intake, 58 of which self-identified as immigrant/refugee. One-way ANOVAs were conducted to examine group differences …

Storytelling As An Expressive Arts Therapy Intervention With Children Via Telehealth, Sidney Marie Joines

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As an expressive arts therapist in training working in the midst of a global pandemic, I sought to develop a creative, safe, accessible, and effective intervention for children via telehealth during a time of great uncertainty. Coronavirus 2019 has had a massive impact on mental and physical health and disrupted the lives of billions across the globe; the pandemic also forced mental health professionals to online formats. I found a significant lack of literature around expressive arts therapy via telehealth. Through considering theoretical approaches from cinematherapy, narrative therapy, metaphor therapy, play therapy, and expressive arts therapy, I developed an eight-week …

The Power, (Problem), And Potential Of Prayer, Meghan E. Stretar

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This paper illuminates the complex and nuanced relationship between mental health and prayer, particularly seeking theologically grounded understandings of prayer and of our relationship with God in times of mental distress that goes beyond intercessory prayer. The paper begins with an evaluation of social structures that cause mental health problems (notably in college students). A discussion on emotional agility, scarcity, and vulnerability serves as a transition to examining this question from a theological perspective, the second main section of this paper. In this section, I claim that a misunderstanding of the divine-human relationship and of prayer is one potential source …

A Terrible Prank Gone Horribly Wrong The Development Of Delusional Infestation As An Adjustment Reaction To A Traumatic Hoax, Timothy Wong, Nardin El-Shammaa, Munaza Khan, Stephen Scheinthal

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Delusional infestation (DI) is a somatic type delusional disorder, characterized by a fixed belief that one is infested by living or nonliving pathogens (1,3) . DI is a relatively rare disorder (4,5), with an estimated 20-80 cases per million people annually (6). Effective management of patients suffering from DI is crucial, as patients may cause significant harm to themselves in their attempts to remove the pathogens (7,8). Regarding treatment options, antipsychotic medications such as pimozide and risperidone have been promising (8,10). However, there remain many barriers to care (11), and patients are hardly ever seen in psychiatry as they preferably …

Case Of New Onset Alice In Wonderland Syndrome In Adolescent After Prolonged Hospitalization, Michaela Margolis, Timothy Wong, Richard Hadi

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Alice in wonderland syndrome (AIWS) has been described as body image illusions involving distortions of the size, mass, or shape of the patient’s own body or its position in space, often occurring with depersonalization and derealization. Most cases typically affect young children.

Common distortions are micropsia, macropsia, metamorphopsia, and pelopsia.

The term was adopted from the book by Lewis Carroll, wherein the main character perceived her size and shape to change in different scenarios.

These distortions are often expressed as sensory perceptions rather than illusions or hallucinations, and are often distressing to the patient.

AIWS onset has been found to …

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a qualitative design …

The Effect Of Physical Activity On The Mental Health Of Pre-Nursing Students And Undergraduate Student Nurses, Larinda J. Fandrich

DNP Research Projects

Abstract

Mental health concerns are on the rise among the college-aged student. College students face a great deal of stress, which can lead to depression and anxiety. Nursing students, as a sub-group of college students, are under even greater stress related to rigorous course work and the responsibility of caring for other people, which can lead to greater depression and anxiety. This study aimed to determine what effect, if any, physical activity has on depression and anxiety scores using the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 instruments in pre-nursing and nursing students. In this study, physical activity is defined as is “any bodily …

A Systematic Review Of Culturally Sensitive Interventions For Ethnic Minority Elders With Mental Illness, Sarah Littlefield, Rosalinda Villareal

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Honors Research Proposal

Goals and Objectives

Our systematic review asks the question: In ethnic minority elders with mental illness, how does culturally sensitive care, compared to current practices, affect patient outcomes? Our project goal is identifying evidence based practice with the goal of improving patient outcomes for ethnic minority elders with mental illnesses.

Methodology:

We will compile evidence from 20 current peer-reviewed studies. These studies will be selected from the CINAHL Plus med database, and key search terms will include: culturally sensitive care, culture, ethnic, mental health, intervention. All selected articles will be current within the last five years.

Outcomes: …