Showing papers on "Mental health published in 1974"

Public Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: A Review of the Literature

Abstract: Iri conjunction with the rise of social psychiatry as an increasingly accepted ideologic and strategic base, there has developed widespread interest in public attitudes toward mental illness. Knowledge of such attitudes is not only germane to those concerned with the origins and maintenance of disturbed behavior, but critically important to workers involved in primary prevention programs, early intervention, and community treatment of psychiatric patients. Both administrators and clinicians benefit from acquaintance with public attitudes toward the presence of psychiatric facilities and patients in their neighborhoods. Psychiatric rehabilitation is facilitated when mental health professionals recognize the social realities that their patients encounter in their daily living. In short, it is becoming generally recognized that mental patients, and those who deal with them, exist in the larger framework of society and that it is imperative, in both planning and carrying out treatment programs, to be aware of the attitudes toward mental illness and treatment that prevail in this larger framework. Despite longstanding awareness of the discrepancies between what people say and what they do, the link between attitude and behavior has been deemed sufficiently meaningful to warrant extensive research regarding public attitudes toward mental illness. Since the late 1940's, when the first studies were designed, there has emerged a substantial body of research concerning the delineation of attitudes held by the public, characteristics of disturbed behavior that influence such attitudes, characteristics of respondents that are themselves associated with variations in attitude, and the relationship between attitudes and behavior.

Components and correlates of mental well-being.

Abstract: The feeling state of well-being is probably the reflection of a complex interaction among psychological processes. Evidence is presented that at least three affects may take part in this process: negative affect, positive sense of involvement, and long-term satisfaction. Different patterns of association are demonstrated between these three affects and variables such as social participation, cultivation of hobbies, planfulness, emotional reactivity, physical health, and expert ratings of psychiatric disorder. These associations demonstrate the heuristic value in attempting to conceptualize and measure the dimensions of psychological well-being, as opposed to dealing with such a global construct in empirical research.

Factors influencing clinician's judgments of mental health. Eighteen experiences with the Health-Sickness Rating Scale.

Abstract: Experiences with use of the Health-Sickness Rating Scale (HSRS), first published in 1962, bear out its original promise. Reliability studies continue to show that clinicians can agree very well in judging mental health. The scale correlates with a variety of more time-consuming observer and patient scales, as well as with judgments of other similar concepts related to mental health. Several studies show that the initial level of the HSRS predicts measures of the outcome of psychotherapy. The HSRS ratings are influenced by the amount of information of the clinician, his relationship with the patient, his own experience, and his training in the use of the scale.

A model for delivery of mental health services to spanish-speaking minorities

Abstract: A mental health program for Spanish-speaking minorities that takes into consideration their unique cultural and linguistic characteristics proves to be more responsive to their needs. Use of bilingual staff, walk-in clinic, educational and preventive programs, collaboration with faith healers, as well as benefits of gaining cooperation and participation of local political and religious leaders, are discussed.

Mental Health Services to a Day-Care System

Abstract: The authors describe the development of a community-oriented therapeutic nursery that serves the mental health needs of a day-care population of over 600 children. It makes use of a flexible treatment program, in conjunction with a consultation program, involving the children, parents, and day-care staff The authors discuss the advantages of a clinical treatment program that is embedded in the network of a day-care system.

Clash in perspective between mental patients and staff.

Abstract: The opinions of mental patients traditionally have been ignored by mental health researchers, although they are most relevant if patient care is to be improved. A comparison of patient and staff opinion reveals that patients have a more positive view of the hospital, and disagree with staff in their conceptions of what makes patients “get better.”

Social Adjustment of Young Children.

Abstract: Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1974, Vol 19(7), 566-567. Reviews the book, Social Adjustment of Young Children by George Spivack and Myrna B. Shure (see record 1974-10910-000). This book presents a well-delineated method applicable for psychologists, teachers, mental health workers, parents, and others concerned with children's welfare that encourages the development of specific problem-solving skills in children in order that they can more effectively manage their interpersonal relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Professional, organizational, and social barriers to primary prevention

Abstract: While acknowledging the importance of primary prevention, mental health agencies continue to devote their major resources to diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation efforts. This paper attempts a comprehensive understanding of the multiple and related barriers to the design and implementation of preventative programs. Barriers are discussed under the categories of definitional problems, systemic complexity, difficulties of demonstration, and lack of constituent demands.

Structural and professional correlates of ideologies of community mental health workers.

Abstract: An examination of community mental health ideological variations among staff from a national sample of community mental health centers, their perceptions of their organization's position on a social servicelmedical continuum, and relationships between ideology and organizational structures indicated highest ideological adherence within rural areas, under agencylboard structures, among social workers and psychologists and among those positioning their organizations closer to social than medical services. Theoretical and policy implications of these

Self-Help Treatment Programs

Abstract: Self-help treatment programs have emerged as a significant development in the human services for a growing number of populations in need. The author explores their history, range, and prospects for the future as well as their sociological and political roots. The self-help movement is considered to have profound implications for mental health caregiving systems.

Selected Psychological Considerations in Sport

Abstract: A series of psychological concepts are developed in this paper for use by coaches, trainers, physical educators, and physicians in the field of sports medicine. The concepts which are advanced deal with (1) the psychological characteristics of selected athletic sport groups, (2) the psychological characterization of successful and less-successful athletes, (3) tension states and the necessity to handle athletes on a personalized basis, (4) the role of mental health in sport, and (5) the importance of looking beyond conscious verbalizations in attempting to understand the athlete's behavior. These concepts have been specified and elaborated upon, implications delineated, and conclusions presented.

Community attitudes toward suicide

Abstract: The study, treatment, and efforts at prevention of suicide take place within a cultural milieu. To date, however, emphasis has been placed almost entirely on the self-destructive individual, his relevant health, and the mental health specialists. An ongoing study of death and bereavement in a cross-ethnic context in the Los Angeles area provided the means of exploring the attitudes of the general population regarding various aspects of suicide. The focus here is on the variables of age, sex, and education as they affect the views and experiences of 400 respondents on the subject of suicide.