Clinical and Medical Social Work Commons^™

In-Home Health Care And Hospitalization Status, Donna Lee Maeser

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the study was to describe the relationship between in-home health care services for elderly patients who were recently discharged from inpatient care and re-hospitalization rates. The design was descriptive and the hypothesis was that the provision of in-home health care services would mitigate a decline in the health status, of an elderly patient, following discharge from inpatient care and prevent re-hospitalization.

Multicultural Clients: A Professional Handbook For Health Care Providers And Social Workers. Sybil M. Lassiter.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Sybil M. Lassiter, Multicultural Clients: A Professional Handbook for Health Care Providers and Social Workers. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995. $65.00 hardcover.

Attention Deficit Disorder And Case Management: Infusing Macro Social Work Practice, Dennis D. Long

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Intervention with children with attention deficit disorders is complex and requires change at multiple system levels using a social work perspective. Case management, macro social work practice, time allocation issues, the structure of a professional self, constraints in expanding a narrow definition of the social worker, and specific macro level intervention areas for social workers are examined in this context.

Feminization Of The Aids Epidemic, Mark S. Kaplan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although males still constitute a substantial number of persons with AIDS, it is becoming clear that this is a disease affecting women and minority populations more adversely. Today women, while representing approximately 16 percent of all AIDS cases nationwide that are reported to the Centers for Disease Control, make up the fastest-growing segment of the population with AIDS. This article contends that AIDS is increasingly afflicting women who have little economic, political, or social power. Furthermore, misdirected public policy has been partly responsible for the greater incidence of the disease in certain regions and populations.

Women Who Hurt Themselves. Dusty Miller.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Dusty Miller, Women Who Hurt Themselves. New York: Basic Books, 1994. $22 hardcover.

Feminist Therapy: A Qualitative Examination Of The Practitioner's Perspective, Kathleen Marianne Scott De Jong

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was undertaken to investigate feminist therapeutic practice from the practitioner's perspective. The initial goals of this study were to explore practitioner perspectives on feminism and power and their impact upon feminist practice. Additionally, the researcher sought to discover how practitioners found congruence between their feminist-informed values and therapeutic practice and if, in the course of practicing as a feminist, ethical dilemmas arose. Based on a sample of eight women who identified themselves as feminist practitioners, the researcher used semi-structured open-ended interviews to investigate the participants' beliefs, values and perspectives on clinical practice. From the application of a generic …

The Affective Quality Of The Relationships Between Mothers Recovering From Cocaine/Polydrug Addiction And Their 12-Month-Old Infants, Jane Reed Vanbremen

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Defining Success: The Politics Of Evaluation In Alcohol And Drug Abuse Treatment Programs, James L. Wolk, David J. Hartmann, William P. Sullivan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs must respond to several important stakeholders or beneficiaries of services who have an investment in how success is defined. Utilizing data from recent statewide studies of treatment outcomes of alcohol and drug abuse services, this paper concludes that a strict adherence to an abstinence-only model of success, rigidly adopted by many in the treatment industry is counterproductive. Multiple measures of success are essential to fully understand and assess a changing model of intervention in the chemical dependency field.

External Locus Of Control And Negative Life Experiences In Persons With Chronic Fatigue And Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, Pamela Thomas Priebe

Graduate Theses

A review of related literature indicated a person's perception of negative life experiences may be unusually high prior to the onset of an illness. An external locus of control belief system may also be present prior to the onset of an illness. The present study used the Life Experiences Survey measure to compare the perception of life experiences of a group of people with CFIDS and a group of people without CFIDS. The present study also used the Locus of Control Scale to measure the locus of control belief system for the same two groups of people. The results of …

Social Work, Social Science And The Disease Concept: New Directions For Addiction Treatment, Douglas Frans

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The perception of alcoholism and other substance abuse disorders as disease entities is a view ardently defended not only among chemical dependency professionals but, increasingly, by the general public as well. Over the past two decades, this perspective has also become so ensconced within the addiction treatment industry that alternative interventions are almost nonexistent even though evidence of their effectiveness is available (Miller & Hester, 1989). And yet, "no leading research authorities accept the classic disease concept" (Fingarette, 1988, p. 3). Competing views are generally characterized as irresponsible, and their sponsors summarily dismissed as dangerously uninformed by disease view proponents …

Client-Driven Advocacy And Psychiatric Disability: A Model For Social Work Practice, David P. Moxley, Paul P. Freddolino

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents an innovative advocacy model designed to assist people coping with psychiatric disabilities to fulfill their basic living needs. The model emphasizes the importance of clients defining their own needs for advocacy and then, with the support and assistance of an advocate, taking direct action to fulfill these needs. The model is elaborated in terms of its basic attributes, the interlocking roles of both clients and advocates, the importance of the advocacy relationship, and seven core processes of advocacy. The authors conclude with a discussion of possible effects of introducing the model into social work practice in mental …

Access To Prenatal Care And County Size: Implications For Service Delivery, Ellen E. Whipple

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The impact of population size across twenty-three west Michigan counties was examined to determine access to prenatal care, low birth weight, and infant mortality. Surveys were completed by forty-five managers of hospitals and county health departments. Service availability, sociodemographic, system-related and lifestyle factors were examined as contributors to perinatal support utilization. Low birth weight and infant mortality were highest in the small- and large-sized counties. Positive birth outcomes in medium-sized counties may have been due to greater availability of infant and child health services through health departments, and the targeting of resources to specific problem areas, such as smoking cessation. …

Mental Health Crises As A Regional Problem, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Mental health crises are often presented and thought about as individual problems, activities going on only within the minds of individuals. This presentation considers mental health crisis as a regional problem. It discusses the four county region of North Central West Virginia which is the catchment area for Valley Community Mental Health Center. It is based on a study conducted by the author of the need for a revised and integrated crisis management system for the region.

Families Of People With A Severe Mental Illness: Role Conflict, Ambiguity And Family Burden, James G. Hanson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The perspective of families of people with a severe mental illness has become a focus of interest for mental health professionals. This paper reports the results of an ethnographic study of families' perceptions of dealing with a severe mental illness in their midst. The findings suggest that the families face continual role conflict and ambiguity as the illness moves through characteristic stages. Attention is given to the families' experience and needs and to social workers' responsibilities for involving and communicating with such families in order to reduce a portion of their burden.

Reformulation Of The Context Of Community Based Care, Phillip Fellin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Community based care has traditionally been defined as residential location. An alternative is presented of including the patient's membership in multiple communities, both geographical and identificational. The literature on social supports is cited as a basis for social integration as a goal.

Structuring Support For Volunteer Commitment: An Aids Services Program Study, Taryn Lindhorst, Ronald Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since the AIDS epidemic began over a decade ago, the bulk of services for people living with HIV in the community setting have been provided by volunteers. Volunteers are confronted with the stigmatized status of people with HIV and must learn to manage multiple crisis issues. This paper describes research on volunteerism in a buddy program for people living with AIDS and the perceptions of volunteers about the structural supports of the volunteer program. Issues around perceptions of stress and the relationship between bereavement and volunteering are explored.

Medical Social Work: Why Is It Underutilized In Home Health Care?, Susan Lee Robilotta Jacobs

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Emotional And Instrumental Experiences Of Caregivers Of Senile Dementia/Alzheimer Type Patients, Lisa Hilder

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

To Survive And To Thrive: Integrating Services For The Homeless Mentally Ill, Marie D. Hoff, Katherine H. Briar, Kristin Knighton, Angie Van Ry

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An intervention research project with homeless, chronically mentally ill persons demonstrated that linking rehabilitation services, such as employment skills and psycho-social stabilization, with survival services promotes success in serving this population. The project confirmed the central role of case managers in promoting engagement with mental health services and re-integration into stable community living.

Rediscovering The Asylum, Sharon M. Keigher

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Spending a night at a typical big city shelter for the homeless has reminded the author of the massive and regimented environment in institutions that she had mistakenly believed no longer existed after the much acclaimed "deinstitutionalization" of America. St. Mary's is run by a religious order attempting to provide charitable care in a nondemanding environment. Many demands are made, however. The lack of privacy and respect for individuality inherent in institutional life tends to erode the "inmate's" very conception of self. It controls their activities, time, and choices, and thus creates barriers to exit. Providing "shelter" for the homeless …

Assessing The Impact Of Serving The Long-Term Mentally Disabled Homeless, Laura E. Blankertz, Ram A. Cnaan, Marlene Saunders

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Homelessness has emerged as a major social problem. In an attempt to understand this problem, attention has been focused on postulating its causes, describing the individuals who hold this status, and estimating its magnitude. This study assesses the outcome of one social service program for long-term mentally disabled homeless individuals. It includes a synopsis of the state of the art in serving homeless individuals with severe mental health problems; a description of a program created to meet their needs; and an analysis of the outcome of this program.

Homeless Persons' Interest In Basic And Health Services: The Role Of Absolute, Relative, And Repressed Needs, Russell K. Schutt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study describes and explains the interest of homeless persons in housing, economic, and health-related services with intake interview data collected by a large urban shelter for single adults. Shelter guests were most interested in assistance with housing, job, and economic benefits, rather than health services. Three explanations of variation in service interests are identified: the "absolute needs" explanation expects service interests to vary directly with service needs, the "repressed needs" explanation expects service interests to vary inversely with alcoholism and mental illness, while the "relative needs" explanation expects interest in health-related services to be related to health needs, but …

The Withering Of Community Life And The Growth Of Emotional Disorders, Thomas F. Maher

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The architecture of this essay is as follows: I begin by assaying the communitarian crisis of the modern western world. Second, I offer a brief narrative of the social and cultural variables that foster rootlessness and social disintegration in much of urban industrial life. Third, I state a strong case for how this same process may be systematically undermining the nuclear family as a life-long community, threatening the dependence of children on care-giving adults, and, thereafter, the psychological development of children.

Social Support For Family Caretakers Of The Chronically Mentally Ill, Gina L. Bankes

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the relation between coping style, social support, family member symptom severity, and negative affect. Fifty-one caretakers of chronically mentally ill family members completed a demographic questionnaire, a general appraisal questionnaire, a family member symptom severity questionnaire, the Coping Strategy Indicator, the Social Support Questionnaire, and the Multiple Affect Anxiety Checklist. Caretakers with family members living at home were different than caretakers with family members living away from home (HOME) in several respects. Controlling for HOME, family member symptom severity was related to negative affect, coping strategies were related to negative affect and the Social Support Questionnaire …

Mental Health Services In Egypt, A. Okasha

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper begins with a historical perspective on mental health care from ancient Egypt to modern times. Current mental health services are described including epidemiological information, the structure of services, and methods of service delivery. Contrasts are made between urban and rural community care systems. The changing demographics of institutional care are analyzed in detail and future plans for psychiatric services are discussed. The recent development of comprehensive interdisciplinary model of service and the founding of a training center for this model is described.

Mental Health Services In Mexico, Teresa Lartigue, Juan Vives

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The history of mental health services in Mexico is traced from the time of the Spanish conquest to modern times. The present structure of mental health services is outlined as it relates to the overall social services and health\care system in Mexico. Inpatient, aftercare, partial hospitalization, and outpatient service are outlined and described. Levels of service and distribution of facilities and staff by region are given. Methods of intervention are described from traditional healers, to highly specialized modern psychiatry, to innovative community self-management programs. Key issues in the future are financial resources, distribution of services and staff, and ways to …

Crisis Intervention Services In Mental Health: A Review Of The Literature, Roger A. Lohmann, Ellen Neidermeyer

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper is a review of the literature on mobile crisis services and other forms of modern crisis intervention services. It is the first part of a larger project, termed the North Central West Virginia Crisis Study. The purpose of this literature review is to identify recent published literature on crisis services, with particular attention to crisis response services. No attempt has been made to survey the voluminous literature on crisis intervention practice skills and techniques.

Mental Health Crisis: A Survey, Roger A. Lohmann, Ellen Neidermeyer

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper is a research report on mobile crisis services and other forms of modern crisis intervention services. It is part of a larger project, termed the North Central West Virginia Crisis Study. This paper reports the results of a survey of mental health crisis incidents reported to a multi-county hotline.

Mental Health Services: An International Perspective, Thomas R. Holmes, Merl C. Hokenstad

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper provides an introduction to this special edition on international mental health perspectives. The importance of an international perspective is discussed and key questions are raised to provide the reader with a frame of reference for examining the mental health systems in the countries presented. An orientation to some of the current mental health issues in Europe, the United States, and developing countries is given as point of comparison for the reader. Questions discussed relate to the status of institutional care, outpatient services, the composition of mental health staff, the role of community interventions and prevention, and the availability …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 18, No. 2 (June 1991)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

SPECIAL ISSUE ON MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• FOREWORD
• MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE - Thomas R. Holmes and Merl C. Hokenstad
• THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE CASE OF RWANDA - Froduald Gatarayiha, Franz Baro, Morton 0. Wagenfeld,
• & Rene Stockman
• MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN INDIA - S. Rajkumar
• MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN MEXICO - Teresa Lartigue and Juan Vives
• MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN EGYPT - A. Okasha
• MENTAL HEALTH POLICY AND PROGRAMS IN ISRAEL: TRENDS AND PROBLEMS OF A DEVELOPING SYSTEM - Uri Aviram
• MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN HONG KONG: HISTORY, MODERN …