Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Internalized Stigma As A Barrier To Improvement In Vocational Functioning Among People With Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders, Philip T. Yanos, Paul Lysaker, David Roe

Publications and Research

We examined the relationship between internalized stigma and changes in vocational function. Persons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n=78) were assessed at baseline and 5 months after vocational rehabilitation. Internalized stigma and cognitive–behavioral treatment predicted change in vocational functioning, supporting the view that internalized stigma compromises vocational outcomes.

The Influence Of Treatment Team Cohesion In The Success Of In-Home Mental Health Treatment For Children And Adolescents With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Jaimie C. Orndorff

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Background: The author pursued this area of interest due to having had a positive experience working as a therapist within a high cohesion treatment team in an in-home setting. This experience with a high cohesion team seemed to lead to more successful results than other teams that were deemed low cohesion, in the same format. This experience led to a general curiosity about why the team this author was on was more effective. Additional research allowed this author to determine the possible link between cohesion, success of treatment and reduced risk for burnout, defined as a response to chronic job …

Levels Of Acculturation And Resilience Among Southeast Asian Adolescents Who Have And Have Not Witnessed Domestic Violence, Skultip (Jill) Sirikantraporn

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The central purpose of this research study was to elucidate the relationship between the levels of acculturation and resilience among Southeast Asian adolescents in the U.S. who have and have not witnessed domestic violence. There is a voluminous amount of research on resilience, acculturation, and domestic violence and their impacts on adolescents. However, there is virtually no research that investigates the relationship among these three major social constructs. Previous research on acculturation, resilience, and coping abilities showed that immigrant children and adolescents who were bicultural were found to be highly adaptive in the midst of stress. No previous studies were …

Mainstreaming Emergency Contraception Pills In Kenya, Jill Keesbury, Monica Wanjiru, Katherine Maina

Reproductive Health

To improve access to emergency contraception (ECP) and ensure that adequate information is provided to all users, the Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, the Population Council, and Population Services International-Kenya undertook a three-year effort to mainstream ECP in Kenya. This brief presents the results of this initiative and discusses strategies for further strengthening ECP provision. Kenya has emerged as a leader in ECP programming in the region and has demonstrated that it is possible to strengthen ECP services in both the public and private sectors while at the same time increasing public awareness, knowledge, and use of the …

Initial Assessment Of Community Midwives In Rural Pakistan, Abdul Wajid, Zubaida Rashid, Ali M. Mir

Reproductive Health

The goal of this Population Council study, funded by USAID through the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN) project, was to assess the potential of community midwifery services in rural Pakistan in order to provide necessary evidence for future decisions regarding the training, practice, and placement of community midwives (CMWs). The introduction of a new cadre of skilled birth attendants is significant, especially at a time when Pakistan is working toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The report makes the following recommendations: 1) opportunities for practical training should be followed meticulously; 2) selection criteria should be revised especially for …

Training Institutions For Community Midwives In Pakistan: An Initial Assessment, Zakir Hussain Shah, Momina Salim, Mumraiz Khan

Reproductive Health

This study focuses on the training of community midwives (CMWs) in Pakistan, to specifically look at the institutions providing CMW training to see what resources (both physical and human resources) they had available and how these resources were being utilized. This study served as an early evaluation of the trainings and upgrades by the PAIMAN project, to assess how their interventions fared, and provides documentation for future decisions regarding the management, training, and practice of CMWs in Pakistan. As Pakistan transitions from a country with a high level of home births to a country where most births take place in …

Process Evaluation Of Community Mobilization Activities, Zakir Hussain Shah

Reproductive Health

This report presents the findings of a process evaluation by the Population Council of community mobilization (CM) activities implemented under the PAIMAN project in Pakistan. PAIMAN developed a comprehensive communication, advocacy, and mobilization (CAM) strategy to increase knowledge and awareness of harmful practices among women and their family and to improve their health-seeking behaviors. The CAM roadmap acknowledges the importance of engaging communities in order to achieve behavior change and links clients with providers and services. The main objective of this evaluation was to assess the process of CM implementation and to identify its gaps in order to develop corrective …

Scientific Understandings Of Postpartum Illness: Improving Health Law And Policy?, Stacey A. Tovino

Faculty Articles

In its broadest sense, this Article examines the relationship between science and the law in the context of postpartum illness. From classical antiquity to the present day, physicians and scientists have investigated the causes, correlates, and consequences of the depressions and psychoses that develop in some women following their transition to motherhood. The scientific investigation of postpartum illness has been characterized by an open-ended search for knowledge with the recognition that scientific findings published one day are subject to revision the next. Legislators and judges also have sought to understand postpartum illness as necessary to make laws that affect and …

Communication And Collaboration Among Providers, John Lowdermilk, Cheryl Fielding, Leila Flores-Torres, Alonso Andrew, Lisa Becerra

Human Development and School Services Faculty Publications

The current study examined the perceived communication and collaboration patterns among staff at an autism treatment center in Texas. Specifically, we believe that communication technologies provide a pivotal role in effective collaboration among direct service providers. Through the study's participant's open-ended responses, researchers identified and described potential issues of concern around communication and collaboration patterns. Implications and recommendations for practice are included.

Community Mobilization For Postabortion Care In Kenya: Baseline Evaluation Report, Chi-Chi Undie, Saumya Ramarao

Reproductive Health

Maternal health complications, including those arising from unsafe abortion and miscarriage, are a leading cause of morbidity among women in Kenya. These realities necessitate interventions to prevent unintended or unwanted pregnancies and to ensure access to quality care for women with postabortion complications. In response to this need, the RESPOND Project designed an intervention package aimed at increasing awareness and use of postabortion care (PAC) services and improving family planning, reproductive health, and maternal health outcomes. As part of the intervention, RESPOND works with districts and communities to: strengthen service delivery points to provide PAC services; conduct community mobilization to …

Personality Disorders And Moral Responsibility, Mike W. Martin

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

In “Personality Disorders: Moral or Medical Kinds—or Both?” Peter Zachar and Nancy Nyquist Potter (2010) reject any general dichotomy between morality and mental health, and specifically between character vices and personality disorders. In doing so, they provide a nuanced and illuminating discussion that connects Aristotelian virtue ethics to a multidimensional understanding of personality disorders. I share their conviction that dissolving morality–health dichotomies is the starting point for any plausible understanding of human beings (Martin 2006), but I register some qualms about their discussion of responsibility.

To What Extent Is The Spirit Of Motivational Interviewing Present In The Experience Of Alcoholics Anonymous Members?, Mark Williams

Theses : Honours

More people tum to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in an attempt to recover from alcohol dependence than any other intervention. AA has historical links with confrontational approaches to alcohol treatment, and motivational interviewing (MI) was conceived by Miller in the 1980's as an alternative to these confrontational approaches. There are divided opinions on whether AA is confrontational; therefore, the primary aim of this qualitative study was to gain an insight into how the spirit of AA is experienced by its members. Ten members of AA were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Thematic analysis from a constructionist perspective was utilised in …

Experiences And Perceptions Of How Community-Based Interventions Can Promote Young Adults' Resilience To Suicide Within Rural/Regional Communities, Tracy Evans

Theses : Honours

In the literature, both statistics and studies have noted that suicide in rural/regional young adults' is an important concern. Recent research suggests, that to facilitate a primary approach to suicide prevention in young people, there is a need to promote the protective construct of resilience at a community level, highlighting strategies such as connectedness, and decreasing the stigma related to mental illness and health-seeking behaviour (Commonwealth Department of Health & Aged Care, 2005; Injury Control Council of Western Australia, 2006). However, there is a need to investigate and identify the links or mediating factors that promote individual resilience within a …

Quality Of Life And Persons With Intellectual Disability: Can We Measure Qol In This Population?, Søren Ventegodt, Hatim A. Omar, Flemming Struve, Tove K. Nielsen, Isack Kandel, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Quality of life (QOL) has been discussed by professionals working with persons with intellectual disability (ID) for some time, but since QOL is concerned with subjective well-being, satisfaction and happiness, how is it possible to measure, when the person in question is unable to communicate? Consciousness is believed to be an internal and personal thing, but we have done the simple experiment to ask observers to rate QOL of another person, also in sub dimensions like self-assessed physical and mental health, relationship with self, self-assessed sexual ability, self-assessed social ability, and we have found that people are able to assess …

Prospective Associations Of Insomnia Markers And Symptoms With Depression, Mariana Szklo-Coxe, Terry Young, Paul E. Peppard, Laurel A. Finn, Ruth M. Benca

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Whether insomnia, a known correlate of depression, predicts depression longitudinally warrants elucidation. The authors examined 555 Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study participants aged 33-71 years without baseline depression or antidepressant use who completed baseline and follow-up overnight polysomnography and had complete questionnaire-based data on insomnia and depression for 1998-2006. Using Poisson regression, they estimated relative risks for depression (Zung scale score >= 50) at 4-year (average) follow-up according to baseline insomnia symptoms and polysomnographic markers. Twenty-six participants (4.7%) developed depression by follow-up. Having 3-4 insomnia symptoms versus none predicted depression risk (age-, sex-, and comorbidity-adjusted relative risk (RR) = 3.2, 95% …

Examining The Impact Of Student Involvement And Intercultural Experiences On Perceptions Of Institutional Commitment To Diversity, Aaron Klein Haight

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of involvement in student organizations as it relates to perceptions of campus climate. The researcher conducted a crosssectional, ex-post facto secondary data analysis of a 2005 institutional survey on diversity at Great Falls State University. The researcher utilized a Chi Square Test for Independence, as well as a Forward Thinking Logistic Regression Model to analyze the data. Although the main emphasis of the research was student involvement in student organizations, the researcher also analyzed data pertaining to background demographics and campus climate. The data results demonstrated differences in perception in …

Foothills Academy: A Program Ranking And Comparative Analysis Of Residential Treatment Programs, William Aaron

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Foothills Academy is an all male adolescent residential treatment facility in Albany, Kentucky. As more states turn toward alternative treatment options to address the growing needs of youth suffering from mental and emotional disorders and substance abuse issues, demand for more efficient treatment programs is on the rise. To remain competitive and to administer the best treatment services for their clients, residential treatment programs must utilize industry best practices that allow efficient use of public funds. By identifying high performing programs, those programs may then be studied to identify factors key to individual program success.

My findings were consistently …

What Is The Impact Of Kentucky’S Pharmacy Recovery Network?, Benjamin Paul Clark

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Problem Statement: This capstone will focus on Kentucky’s Pharmacy Recovery Network (PRN). In general, professional recovery networks are organizations that act as a liaison between professional state boards and the health professionals who are dealing with substance abuse and addictions that sometimes result in negative consequences to that individual and/or their profession. Instead of a “one-strike and you are out” approach, these organizations recognize that there is a disease process occurring. Thus, as opposed to engaging in strictly punitive measures, a rehabilitative approach is chosen to allow the health professional an opportunity to recover and successfully reenter into their profession. …

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction And Chronic Illness, Kelly Dulohery

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The Minnesota Department of Health (n.d.) defines a chronic health condition as having an extended course, does not resolve suddenly, and complete cure is a rarity. The literature suggests that stress can exacerbate the symptoms of chronic health condition (Roth and Robins, 2004). Addressing the biopsychosocial needs of individuals with chronic health conditions pushes the limits of conventional medicine (Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004). A chronic health condition, if left untreated can lead to additional physical and psychological conditions (e.g. contributing to the development of anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and helplessness) (Ledesma & Kumano, 2009); (Reibel, …

Filling The Gap In Crisis Intervention: Horizon Homes, Inc. Proposal For Sccbi Crisis Services, Ricki Pribyl

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In late April 2010, the South Central Crisis Center operated in Mankato, MN under state operated services (SOS) closed its doors. The closing of the crisis center left a gap in mental health services, particularly for the ten counties it specifically served. Legislators in the Mankato area, specifically Kathy Sheran worked hard to put together a block grant through the Health and Human Services Act, which would allow additional funding for the reopening of the crisis center. Given that the grant went though, the operation of the new crisis center would be overseen by the South Central Community Based Initiative …