Health Psychology Commons^™

Citizen Participation In The Development Of Religious Communities As Extended Health Care Centres, Theresa Connie Dunn

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Citizen participation was encouraged through the use of a needs and resource assessment. The assessment accomplished: 1) a process of involving rural citizens in community decision-making and 2) gathering data useful to the planning of a community chaplaincy program. Seventy participants completed a questionnaire through one of three methods: 1) self-administered by mental health service users, 2) a phone survey of residents in remote rural areas, and 3) a nominal group process involving congregational members. I focused the analysis of the data on: 1) the actual and suggested resources the participants reported for the four needs: personal, spiritual, social and …

Ontario's Mental Health System: The Experience Of Families And Their Perspective On Reform, Eric Laite Macnaughton

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Over 100 family members were interviewed—individually and in focus groups—to gain a picture of their lived experience and their perspective on reform of Ontario's mental health system. The thesis looks at needs of families in two ways. first, by examining the common themes of their experience with the mental health system and with supporting "consumers" in the community; and second, by asking families directly about their satisfaction with existing supports, and about needed additional supports. Focus group participants were asked to make suggestions about innovative models to meet unmet need, and about how families could participate more fully in the …

The First Two Years Of Woolwich Community Health Centre: Program And Project Evaluations, Corrine W. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Community health centres were set up to aid in combatting the accelerating rate of spending in health services, to encourage a shift from the present emphasis on acute hospital in-patient care to other forms of health care, and to more fully reflect the objectives and priorities of illness-prevention and health promotion, and community-based care. Broadly, the purpose of this thesis was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of a new health centre—Woolwich Community Health Centre. Specifically, the evaluation assessed health promotion and illness prevention programs implemented by the staff of the health centre, client empowerment and client satisfaction with the health …

Youth Stress, Support, Coping Skills And Depression: Developing A Model For Primary Prevention In The High Schools, M. Jill Somerville

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined the needs and resources of Galt Collegiate Institute and the City of Cambridge in order to develop a primary prevention program for adolescent stress, support, and coping skills. Two hundred and ten high school students (grade 9 to OAC) completed an adolescent experiences questionnaire including measures on daily hassles, social support, coping skills, depression, and affect. As well, ten individuals from the community completed an interview focusing on program ideas and available resources. Multiple regression analyses of the student data revealed that hassles were directly related to negative affect and depression, and coping skills were directly related …

A Mental Health Needs Assessment Of The Industrial Area Of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, James R.D. Ross

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A mental health needs assessment of the industrial area of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia was conducted between September and December, 1989. The study was sponsored by the Cape Breton Mental Health Association. A collaborative approach which emphasized community involvement was utilized to design and implement the study. The study used a convergent analysis of the data to elicit a comprehensive and multidimensional perspective on mental health needs from four sub-sample, including the administrators of mental health services, socio-mental health professionals, consumers of mental health services, and the general public. Data were also obtained from five groups (i.e., youth, those …

Housing And Social Support For Current And Former Psychiatric Patients: A Process And Outcome Evaluation Of Supportive Community Living, Janice E. Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the current era of deinstitutionalization, community-based residential programs for people with chronic psychiatric disabilities have mushroomed in Canada and the United States. While many researchers have documented the beneficial effects of supportive housing programs on resident’s work productivity and length of community tenure, few evaluations have included an examination of resident’s housing environment and the quality of life in the community, particularly from the perspective of the residents themselves. This paper describes such an evaluation. The study’s first objective was to ascertain those housing environment characteristics that are most strongly related to residents’ perceived quality of life. To accomplish …

Program Evaluation Of The Community Aftercare Program, Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Region, Karen J. Nesbitt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper describes an evaluation of the Community Aftercare Program, a program of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Waterloo Region. This case management program offers long-term support to psychiatrically disabled adults who were once hospitalized and now live in this community. Ten people from the Community Aftercare Program and ten individuals who were on the waiting list for the program were interviewed for this static group comparison design. Using a stakeholder approach, data were collected on measures of hospitalization, adaptive functioning, community integration, social support networks, employment, housing, service use, and quality of life. Results indicated that the program clients …

A New Approach To The Assessment Of Social Functioning Of People Who Have Been Hospitalized For Psychiatric Treatment, Heather Smith Fowler

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Typical approaches to social functioning assessment--the social adjustment approach in particular--are seen to have a number of conceptual and methodological limitations which develop from a problematic value system. A new approach to the assessment of social functioning is advocated, based on the values of community psychology and giving priority to the individual's subjective experience, social environment, and personal growth, and to a qualitative methodology. As part of the development of this approach, this research sought to describe and interpret what a group of 40 people--previously hospitalized for psychiatric treatment and currently residing in co-operative supportive housing--think and feel about their …

An Evaluation Of The Quality Of Service At A Volunteer-Run Telephone Distress Centre, Peter John Crocker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A quality of service evaluation was designed collaboratively with listeners at a volunteer-run hotline, to promote the utilization of evaluation results. Listener use of empathy, talk time, and silence, and different types of verbal helping responses (e.g. advice, reflection of feeling) was examined through the use of 30 simulated calls placed to consenting listeners. While the second major focus of the evaluation, assessing the validity of listener self-rated performance as an evaluative technique, was not successful, a large number of performance gaps were identified. Contrary to expectations, listeners were directive in their helping orientation, often providing inappropriate or unhelpful advice …

An Examination Of Aftercare Services For The Chronically Mentally Ill In Two Communities, Lorraine Ferris

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Within the last few decades there has been a shift from traditional institutional approaches in mental health to community based service delivery systems. Researchers examining the community-based model have focused on improving the quality of community care. Specifically, use of aftercare services has been found to improve the quality of community care (Byers, Cohen, & Harshbarger, 1978; Gittelman 1974; Krauss & Slavinsky 1982; Weinman et al. 1978). Coordination of services has also been shown to improve the quality of community care by increasing the effectiveness of aftercare (Broskowsky, marks, & Burmen 1982; Clark 1976; Krauss & Slavinsky 1982). At the …

The Prediction Of Success-Failure And Terminating-Remaining In The Bibliotherapy Treatment Of Obesity, David John Mckay

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

136 obese adults, 119 females and 17 males, all at least 15% over their ideal weight, participated in a ten week self-administered bibliotherapy treatment of obesity. The study examined the relationship between socio-economic status, locus of control, field dependence and their interaction terms and success-failure and terminating-remaining in a totally self-administered behavioural self-help treatment. A multiple regression data analytic strategy was used for data analysis. Significant relationships were found between locus of control and total number of lessons completed and success-failure. Also, significant relationships were found between participants’ age and locus of control and terminating-remaining. The marginal results of the …

A Study Of The Onset, Severity And Frequency Of Illness As Related To Life Changes And Coping Mechanisms, Lynne Susan Dubblestyne

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A study which investigated the relationships between the onset, frequency and severity of past and present illnesses, with life changes and coping mechanisms was carried out. Subjects consisted of three levels of health care: (1) symptom-free (N=88); (2) minor illness (N=72), and (3) hospital patients (N=100). Three measures were employed to test these relationships: (1) the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE); (2) the Medical History Check-List (MHCL) and, (3) the Boston University Personality Inventory (BUPI). In addition, Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale (SIRS) mean values or severity weights were assigned to subjects’ physician diagnosed illnesses.

As expected, the amount of …