This private NON-PROFIT professional publication and associated web-based, information archive service is dedicated to the enhancement of practice, program development, program evaluation and innovations in mental health and substance abuse treatment programs worldwide. Its goal is to provide a public forum for practitioners, consumers and researchers to address the multiple service needs of patients and families and help determine what works, for whom under a variety of circumstances.
This book is a primer on Stepped Care 2.0. It is the first book in a series of three. This primer addresses the increased demand for mental health care by supporting stakeholders (help-seekers, providers, and policy-makers) to collaborate in enhancing care outcomes through work that is both more meaningful and sustainable. Our current mental health system is organized to offer highly intensive psychiatric and psychological care. While undoubtedly effective, demand far exceeds the supply for such specialized programming. Many people seeking to improve their mental health do not need psychiatric medication or sophisticated psychotherapy. A typical help seeker needs basic support. For knee pain, a nurse or physician might first recommend icing and resting the knee, working to achieve a healthy weight, and introducing low impact exercise before considering specialist care. Unfortunately, there is no parallel continuum of care for mental health and wellness. As a result, a person seeking the most basic support must line up and wait for the specialist along with those who may have very severe and/or complex needs. Why are there no lower intensity options? One reason is fear and stigma. A thorough assessment by a specialist is considered best practice. After all, what if we miss signs of suicide or potential harm to others? A reasonable question on the surface; however, the premise is flawed. First, the risk of suicide, or threat to others, for those already seeking care, is low. Second, our technical capacity to predict on these threats is virtually nil. Finally, assessment in our current culture of fear tends to focus more on the identification of deficits (as opposed to functional capacities), leading to over-prescription of expensive remedies and lost opportunities for autonomy and self-management. Despite little evidence linking assessment to treatment outcomes, and no evidence supporting our capacity to detect risk for harm, we persist with lengthy intake assessments and automatic specialist referrals that delay care. Before providers and policy makers can feel comfortable letting go of risk assessment, however, they need to understand the forces underlying the risk paradigm that dominates our society and restricts creative solutions for supporting those in need.
For most of us, the term 'recovery' in mental health implies hope and normality for those suffering from emotional distress. It is understandable why recovery has therefore become a significant goal for mental health services. But what does recovery mean for those who are struggling to see it through? Is the emphasis on recovery always a positive thing. This book takes a critical sociological look at personal and public assumptions and understandings. In particular: - It explores what the recovery movement signifies today, offering readers a critical, reflexive view of its scientific, policy and political consequences - It considers what recovery means from social, medical and patient perspectives, and the implications of these conflicting views - It reveals some of the risks and benefits for people with mental health problems encountering a system that expects them to recover Offering a comprehensive and thought-provoking overview of the concept of recovery from mental illness, this book is a must-have for students studying mental health across a range of subjects, including sociology, social work, psychology and nursing.
This book explores social constructionism and the language of mental distress. Mental health research has traditionally been dominated by genetic and biomedical explanations that provide only partial explanations. However, process research that utilises qualitative methods has grown in popularity. Situated within this new strand of research, the authors examine and critically assess some of the different contributions that social constructionism has made to the study of mental distress and to how those diagnosed are conceptualized and labeled. This will be an invaluable introduction and source of practical strategies for academics, researchers and students as well as clinical practitioners, mental health professionals, and others working with mental health such as educationalists and social workers.
This revision of a well-loved text continues to embrace the confluence of person, environment, and occupation in mental health as its organizing theoretical model, emphasizing the lived experience of mental illness and recovery. Rely on this groundbreaking text to guide you through an evidence-based approach to helping clients with mental health disorders on their recovery journey by participating in meaningful occupations. Understand the recovery process for all areas of their lives—physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental—and know how to manage co-occurring conditions.
The companion text to Occupational Therapy without Borders - Volume 1: learning from the spirit of survivors! In this landmark text writers from around the world discuss a plurality of occupation-based approaches that explicitly acknowledge the full potential of the art and science of occupational therapy. The profession is presented as a political possibilities-based practice, concerned with what matters most to people in real life contexts, generating practice-based evidence to complement evidence-based practice. As these writers demonstrate, occupational therapies are far more than, as some critical views have suggested, a monoculture of practice rooted in Western modernity. Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu captures the ethos of this book, which essentially calls for engagements in the service of a purpose that is larger than the advancement of our profession's interests: "Your particular approach to advancing our wellbeing and health strikes me as both unique and easily taken for granted. Whilst you value and work with medical understandings, your main aim seems to go beyond these. You seem to enable people to appreciate more consciously how what we do to and with ourselves and others on a daily basis impacts on our individual and collective wellbeing. As occupational therapists you have a significant contribution to make [.] allowing people from all walks of life to contribute meaningfully to the wellbeing of others." - Links philosophy with practical examples of engaging people in ordinary occupations of daily life as a means of enabling them to transform their own lives - Includes contributions from worldwide leaders in occupational therapy research and practice - Describes concrete initiatives in under-served and neglected populations - Looks at social and political mechanisms that influence people's access to useful and meaningful occupation - Chapters increase diversity of contributions – geographically, culturally and politically - Emphasis on practice, education and research maintains academic credibility - A glossary and practical examples in nearly every chapter make text more accessible to students
This book includes high-quality research on various aspects of intelligent interactive multimedia technologies in healthcare services. The topics covered in the book focus on state-of-the-art approaches, methodologies, and systems in the design, development, deployment, and innovative use of multimedia systems, tools, and technologies in healthcare. The volume provides insights into smart healthcare service demands. It presents all information about multimedia uses in e-healthcare applications. The book also includes case studies and self-assessment problems for readers and future researchers. This book proves to be a valuable resource to know how AI can be an alternative tool for automated and intelligent analytics for e-healthcare applications.
Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness, Sixth Edition is intended to teach students, counselors and other medical professionals working with the chronically ill and disabled how to better understand the manifestations of common chronic illnesses and the disabilities among their clients.
As an adult nurse you will come into contact with a wide-range of service users during your practice. Whilst your focus might be on the physical problem that brought them to you, understanding their mental health is also a key part of your role and important to treating people effectively. This book will give you practical guidance on how to respond to the needs of those in your care who face mental health challenges, helping you be more prepared and be able to deliver person-centred care confidently. Key features · Fully mapped to the new NMC standards of proficiency for registered nurses (2018) · Case studies, activities and other learning features help you translate the theory to practice · A practical guide to help you achieve the proficiencies required of you by the NMC
