Conventional Mental Health Care Research Articles

AI Enabled Chatbot for regulating Mental Health

Abstract: The most important healthcare questions affecting present-day human people are those related to mental health. Young adults and individuals of working age are more inclined to experience these troubles that have a detrimental effect on the person, his or her family, job, society, and economy. Conventional mental health care aids, while very successful, cannot be scaled until they meet the growing demand from affected individuals, as explained in the first two years of the COVID-19 epidemic. To begin with, it is supposed that there are 792 million families globally that have mental health issues and ailments. That equates to 1 in 10 people worldwide. Conversational assistants, or chatbots, are a recent science creativeness that has been efficiently adapted for mental health management to present first-level help for such individuals. Compared to face-to-face consultations, people are more forthcoming in online chats. Traditional methods for sentiment analysis and consoling may not be effective with adolescents because they are reluctant to express their negative emotions in personal interaction. As a result, this project places a firm attention on utilizing virtual programs to recognize depressing or anxious symptoms in individuals and control their stress.

The emoji current mood and experience scale: the development and initial validation of an ultra-brief, literacy independent measure of psychological health

Background There is increasing interest in measuring wellbeing and mental health in a range of settings and services outside conventional mental health care settings. However, ensuring that measurement does not intrude on the primary service activity whilst promoting inclusion through minimizing literacy demands, requires ultra-brief and easy to use tools. Aims To develop and test a brief emoji-based tool to assess mental health, wellbeing, resilience and community connection. Method In study 1, 672 adults completed an online questionnaire study comprising a new emoji measure and established questionnaires assessing mental health, resilience, community connection and wellbeing. In study 2, 415 participants completed a paper-and-pencil version of the emoji measure, mental health and community connection, with 212 individuals providing data at a second time point. Results Multidimensional scaling revealed a meaningful structure to the emoji measure with validity demonstrated through relationships to existing scales. Stability over time and sensitivity to change were also demonstrated. Conclusions The emoji-based measure presented here provides an ultra-brief measure of mood and current experience, with minimal literacy demands on participants. Further research is now needed to test the properties and utility of the scale with other participant groups.

A Narrative Review of Factors Influencing Peer Support Role Implementation in Mental Health Systems: Implications for Research, Policy and Practice.

With increasing calls to incorporate recovery principles into conventional mental health care, the importance of peer support worker (PSW) services has gained attention. However, studies consistently show that PSWs remain underutilized. Although research addresses several factors that influence formal implementation of their role, there is lack of a comprehensive framework that synthesizes the factors and addresses their interlevel interactions. This paper provides a narrative review and synthesis of literature on multilevel factors that influence formal PSW role implementation in mental health systems. We conducted a search of literature and reviewed 38 articles that met inclusion criteria. Our thematic analysis involved identifying first and second order categories that applied across studies, and developing third order interpretations through iterations. We synthesized the findings in a multilevel framework consisting of macro, meso and micro level influences. Influencing factors at the macro level include broader socio-cultural factors (medical model, recovery values, professional power dynamics, training and certification), regulatory and political factors (policy mandates, political commitment), and economic and financial factors (funding, affordability of services). Factors at the meso level include organizational culture, organizational leadership, change management, and human resource management policies. Micro level influences pertain to relationships between PSWs and team members, and PSW wellbeing. Interlevel interactions are also outlined. Limitations and implications for research, policy and practice are addressed.

Survey of non-conventional mental health care facilities in C\xf4te d\u2019Ivoire: first stage

BackgroundMental illnesses and disabilities as well as epileptic diseases remain an important public health issue. In Côte d’Ivoire, the provision of psychiatric care and specialised psychosocial facilities is almost non-existent. This study is based on the hypothesis that the care of people suffering from mental illness and epilepsy in Côte d’Ivoire is mainly in the hands of non-conventional mental health care facilities, including so-called ‘Prayer Camps’. These work according to traditional and spiritual principles and are mostly not registered or controlled by the Ivorian authorities.MethodsThis study is the first stage of a multi-stage study. For the first stage, a quantitative method with an exploratory and descriptive aim was chosen. 541 non-conventional mental health care facilities in Côte d’Ivoire were mapped, typologised according to their spiritual orientation and treatment methods, and examined according to some charactersitics. Semi-structured interviews with 435 facility leaders were conducted.ResultsThe article provides a typology of four types of non-conventional mental health care facilities in Côte d’Ivoire including Christian Prayer Camps, Traditional Healing Centres, Phytotherapy Centres, and Roqya Centres. It explores their administrative embedding, the qualification of the facility leaders as well as their willingness, in principle, to cooperate with conventional mental health care centres. A considerable number of non-conventional expressed a desire or acceptance of cooperation with psychiatric organisations.ConclusionsThe next stage of this multi-stage study will be to assess the clinical and legal situation of the patients in these centres. The aim is to interview the patients in order to analyse their perceptions and to capture the concerns of relatives and staff in the centres as well as the human rights situation in a mixed-method study. The long-term objective is to establish future cooperation between conventional psychiatric care providers and suitable non-conventional mental health care facilities and to implement a community mental health care policy in Côte d’Ivoire.

Cyberbullying as a way of causing suicide in the digital age

The fundamental basis of legal systems based on common law is that people have free will and are accountable for their actions. Particularly difficult and controversial issues of criminal liability arise when one person instigates another to commit suicide, and, accordingly, issues of free will, causality, and responsibility become increasingly important. The reasons for committing suicide are primarily socio-economic in nature. A certain proportion of suicides are those that occur due to the negative impact of third parties on the victims. In this case, the investigative action must establish that the perpetrator displayed intent in his or her actions in such a way as to expose the victim to a high risk of serious psychological harm. In the era of digital transformation, special attention must be paid to the relationship of the criminal with the victim, carefully studying the social networks of both, taking into account the fact that a typical participant in Internet communication leading to suicide is emotionally unstable, subordinate, insecure, secretive, unassertive teenager, and this category is represented to a greater extent by a female audience. The scalability of digital interventions allows to penetrate populations beyond the reach of conventional mental health care. Thus, there is a need for the use of digital Internet interventions, including to assist in the work of law enforcement agencies in the detection of Internet communities that instigate and incline people to commit suicide. It is concluded that the era of digital transformations is constantly evolving, social networks are becoming more accessible for both criminals and their victims, as a result of which the corresponding requirements for the investigation and subsequent prosecution for incitement to suicide become more complicated. The scientific proposals of legal scholars presented in the study are aimed at solving the corresponding problems

What about value for money? A cost benefit analysis of the South Eastern Sydney Recovery and Wellbeing College

Background Recovery Colleges assist people in their personal recovery journeys by offering an approach that transforms conventional mental health care by using an educational framework. While evaluations of these colleges have demonstrated effectiveness in promoting personal recovery, scant research has been published regarding their economic evaluation. Aims To conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the South Eastern Sydney Recovery and Wellbeing College in Australia by exploring health utilisation and direct costs. Method The overall costs of the Recovery College sample (reported from 2014 to 2017) were used to derive a per person, per year cost, adjusted for inflation to 2020 Australian dollars. Benefits were determined by analysing pre/post health service utilisation by service users, and subsequently calculating a net cost saving, Results There was a statistically significant reduction in Emergency Department and inpatient mental health utilisation following participation in the Recovery College. The net cost savings was A$269 per student per year. Conclusions This study indicates that the Recovery College can play an important role in decreasing mental health service and ED utilisation. This reflects reduced reliance on traditional mental health services, thus suggesting that students develop improved self-agency and ability to manage their own mental health.

Editorial Perspective: A plea for the sustained implementation of digital interventions for young people with mental health problems in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the consequent global lockdown posed a particular challenge for youths with mental health problems. Crucial interference with their everyday lives likely increased psychological distress while accessibility of conventional mental health care was limited. Ongoing online trials offer a unique opportunity to analyse mental health status and help‐seeking behaviour of adolescents during the pandemic. The ProHEAD‐online trial aims at improving help‐seeking behaviour of children and adolescents with significant psychological impairment. From January to May 2020, 1,042 students had access to the ProHEAD‐online platform providing information on mental illness, monitoring, peer support and professional counselling. In the week from 11 March, when schools were closed in Germany, a drastic (more than 2 standard deviations) but time‐limited increase in utilization of the ProHEAD‐online services became apparent. This may indicate a worsened mental health status and an increased help seeking via digital services during the lockdown. Although this finding is purely observational, it speaks to the importance of evidence‐based online service in the field of mental health within the current crisis and beyond.

Psychedelic Research and the Need for Transparency: Polishing Alice's Looking Glass.

Psychedelics have a checkered past, alternately venerated as sacred medicines and vilified as narcotics with no medicinal or research value. After decades of international prohibition, a growing dissatisfaction with conventional mental health care and the pioneering work of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science (MAPS) and others has sparked a new wave of psychedelic research. Positive media coverage and new entrepreneurial interest in this potentially lucrative market, along with their attendant conflicts of interest, have accelerated the hype. Given psychedelics’ complex history, it is especially important to proceed with care, holding ourselves to a higher scientific rigor and standard of transparency. Universities and researchers face conflicting interests and perverse incentives, but we can avoid missteps by expecting rigorous and transparent methods in the growing science of psychedelics. This paper provides a pragmatic research checklist and discusses the importance of using the modern research and transparency standards of Open Science using preregistration, open materials and data, reporting constraints on generality, and encouraging replication. We discuss specific steps researchers should take to avoid another replication crisis like those devastating psychology, medicine, and other fields. We end with a discussion of researcher intention and the value of actively deciding to abide by higher scientific standards. We can build a rigorous, transparent, replicable psychedelic science by using Open Science to understand psychedelics’ potential as they re-enter science and society.

EMental health service use among Australian youth: a cross-sectional survey framed by Andersen's model.

Objective Young adults aged 18-24 years often delay or avoid seeking help for their mental health concerns. eMental health, the use of the Internet to deliver mental health information, services and care, offers a low-cost, easy-access option. However the factors that influence online help-seeking among this cohort remain unclear. Methods Andersen's healthcare utilisation model was adapted to examine correlates of eMental health use among Australian youth. In all, 161 young adults completed an online survey comprising sociodemographic questions, online feature preferences, the Actual and General Help-seeking Questionnaires, Berkman-Syme Social Network Index, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Service Obstacles Scale and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales. Results Almost 70% of young people reported having previously accessed some form of online support for their personal or emotional problems. This included informal information via social media and formalised counselling services. Notably, perception of service satisfaction was low. Hierarchical logistical regression identified two significant predisposing factors to subsequent online help-seeking: prior face-to-face service use and living or cohabitating with others. Conclusions eMental health is accessed by young people in Australia, yet more needs to be done to better integrate this service model into the healthcare system. This includes training and education for consumers and professionals about existing, effective programs. What is known about this topic? eMental health platforms can bridge the gap between technology and conventional mental health care. Despite its rapidly expanding evidence base, the implementation of eMental health into the Australian healthcare system remains slow. More work needs to be done to elucidate the factors underlying preferences for online help-seeking. What does this paper add? Young adult perspectives on the delivery of mental health information, services and care via the Internet are examined in accordance with a major conceptual model, namely Andersen's behavioural model of health services use. The majority of those surveyed reported having accessed some form of online support for an emotional issue, although dissatisfaction with the quality of this support was expressed. Andersen's model can guide future research in this area and potentially help target eMental health initiatives to individual service users' needs. What are the implications for practitioners? eMental health interventions offer an alternative for young adults who have difficulty accessing traditional mental health care services, but are also an adjunct to those experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of mental illness. Practitioners can introduce young adults to eMental health by discussing the benefits and limitations and by providing information about available and secure online programs delivered by trusted service providers.

American Indian women cancer survivors’ perceptions and experiences with conventional and non-conventional mental health care for depressive symptoms

ABSTRACT Background: Despite cancer and depression being disproportionately high for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women, such cancer survivors’ help-seeking practices and perceptions related to depression are absent in extant research. A broader context of historical oppression has set the stage for unequal health outcomes and access to quality services. The purpose of this article was to explore AI women cancer survivors’ experiences with conventional mental health services and informal and tribally-based assistance, as well as barriers related to mental health service utilization. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study methodology, with qualitative content analysis, was used to examine the experiences of AI women cancer survivors as they related to help-seeking experiences for depressive symptoms. The sample included 43 AI women cancer survivors (n = 14 breast cancer, n = 14 cervical cancer, and n = 15 colon and other types of cancer survivors). Results: Since receiving a cancer diagnosis, 26 (62%) participants indicated they had feelings of depression. Some participants (n = 13) described mixed perceptions of the mental health service system. Generally, participants viewed families and informal support systems as primary forms of assistance, whereas conventional services were reported as a supplementary or ‘as needed’ forms of support, particularly when the informal support system was lacking. Participants received help in the forms of psychotropic medications and psychotherapy, as well as help from family and AI-specific healing modalities (e.g. sweat lodges and healing ceremonies). Stigma and confidentiality concerns were primary barriers to utilizing conventional services as described by 12 (29%) participants. Discussion: Participants’ help primarily came from family and tribally-based entities, with conventional mental health care being more salient when informal supports were lacking. The mixed perceptions espoused by participants may be related to a broader context of historical oppression; family and social support and tribally-based services may be protective factors for cancer survivors with depression.

Telemental Health Care, an Effective Alternative to Conventional Mental Care: a Systematic Review.

Background and Objectives:Due to the high costs of conventional mental health care, there has been a rise in the application of web-based technologies in recent years, i.e., telemental health care. We conducted this systematic review in 2017, using high quality research articles on the applications, technologies, advantages and challenges associated with telemental health care published since year 2000.Methods:We used a combination of relevant key words to search four major databases, such as “Web of Sciences, Embase, PubMed and Science Direct”. From among 156 articles, which had been published since 2000, twenty five articles met all of the inclusion criteria and were selected for the final review. The information extracted from these articles were used to construct Tables 1 and 2. Also, the materials derived from 55 credible articles were used as further support and complementary facts to substantiate the information presented in the Discussion section.Results:The findings revealed that telemental health care is an extended domain supportive of conventional mental health services. Currently, telemental health care has multiple capabilities and technologies for providing effective interventions to patients with various mental illnesses. It provides clinicians with a wide variety of innovative choices and strategies for mental interventions, in addition to significant future potentials.Conclusions:Telemental health care can provide effective and adaptable solutions to the care of mental illnesses universally. While being comparable to in-person services, telemental health care is particularly advantageous and inexpensive through the use of current technologies and adaptable designs, especially in isolated communities.

Ideological vs. Instrumental Barriers to Accessing Formal Mental Health care in the Developing World: Focus on South-eastern Nigeria.

The striking gaps in formal mental health care in the developing world are largely traceable to Instrumental and Ideological Barriers. Focusing on south-eastern Nigeria, the study aimed to establish the relative weight, significance and determinants of these barriers for prioritised policy interventions. Multistage sampling method was used to select participants (n = 706) to whom questionnaires were administered. Ideological Barriers (cultural and mental health literacy constraints) were more significantly perceived (84.8%) than Instrumental Barriers (systemic and financial impediments) (56.6%). The study demonstrated the primacy of improved knowledge in plugging the gap in conventional mental health care in a region ironically defined more by systemic and material poverty. This is instructive for prioritised policy interventions with an indication that even if facilities and socio-economic status improve, services will likely be underused without greater improvement in people's conceptualisation of mental illness. It equally underscored the need for cultural competence in mental health service provision.

Psychosomatic consultation in the workplace: do we reach different users by changing the context?

Background In Germany, the proportion of mental health diagnoses in early retirement is currently at 40%, constituting the largest diagnostic group. Due to demographic changes, shortage of qualified staff is an increasing challenge for social insurance funds and the labour market. Work-related stress is known to promote common mental disorders (CMD) like depression, anxiety, functional somatoform disorder or adjustment disorders and results in a declining quality of life and work performance. Although the landscape of mental health services is well established in Germany, only 40% of affected individuals managed to obtain professional care. The unmet need for easily accessible and early interventions and the economic impact of CMD led to the development of a variety of offers at the interface between company supported and conventional mental health care (CAU) e.g. the “psychosomatic consultation in the workplace” (PCIW). To learn more about this complex system we set out to analyse user profile and change 12-weeks after consultation.

Embodied health practices: The use of Traditional Healing and Conventional Medicine in a North Norwegian Community

Scandinavian welfare states like Norway represent a cultural context in which citizens who become ill are supposed to trust and receive health care within the conventional health care system that is officially subsidized and based on biomedical knowledge. Despite this officially initiated health practice, unofficial and non-commercial health practices exist in many North Norwegian communities, consisting of traditional healers which people actively use or would consider to use when facing illness or crisis. The municipality of Nordreisa in Northern Troms is commonly described as ”where the three tribes meet”- the “tribes” being the indigenous Sami people, the Kven, descendants of Finnish immigrants, and the majority population of the Norwegians - and for this reason the region has historically been considered a cultural melting pot. The eight participants in this ethnographic study, recruited from an outpatient mental health care clinic in Nordreisa, find themselves positioned as users of both traditional healing practices and the conventional mental health care offered by the clinic. The aim of this article is to explore mental ill patients’ reasons for, and experiences from, the use of traditional healing as well as the conventional health care system within this cultural context by applying theories of trust and embodiment on important empirical patterns of illness behavior. The participants experienced being-and juggling- between the two significantly different medical and cultural systems. In our perspective, these patients’ use of both systems can be understood as “embodied health practices”, based on different cultural approaches to health, healing and knowledge, and thus, barriers of embodied health care practices and trust may cause problems in the encounters between mentally ill patients and their treatment providers. The participants experienced vulnerability and expressed lack of trust in the conventional mental health care in regards to how their traditional healing practices were understood. Furthermore, they feared being diagnosed with more severe mental health disorders within the conventional health care system than if they under-communicated their trust in and use of traditional healing. We argue that the understanding of “embodied trust” introduced in this article may add important new perspectives on complex contemporary healing contexts and healing practices. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n3p483

Age-related patterns in mental health-related complementary and alternative medicine utilization in Canada

The aim of this study was to examine whether age-related differences in rates of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) specifically for mental health problems parallel well-known age-related differences in use of conventional mental health services and medications. A sample of middle-aged (45-64 years; n = 10,762), younger-old (65-74; n = 4,113) and older-old adults (75 years and older; n = 3,623) was drawn from the 2001-2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), Cycle 1.2, Mental Health and Wellbeing. Age-related utilization rates of conventional and complementary mental health services and medications/products were calculated. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the strength of association between age group and utilization of services and medications or products in the context of other important sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. When considered in the context of other sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, older age was positively associated with mental health-related utilization of alternative health products. Older age was not significantly associated with mental health-related consultations with CAM providers. Overall, age-related patterns in mental health-related use of CAM did not directly correspond to age-related patterns in conventional mental health care utilization, suggesting different sets of predictors involved in seeking each type of care.

Pragmatic Help Seeking: How Sexual and Gender Minority Groups Access Mental Health Care in a Rural State

This qualitative study examined how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in rural areas of the poor and multiethnic state of New Mexico access secular (professional and lay) and sacred (indigenous and Christian) mental health care resources. In-depth, semistructured interviews were used to document the help-seeking processes of 38 rural LGBT people. Obtaining assistance was complicated by the ideal of self-reliance and the view of mental illness as a sign of weakness. Financial considerations and a lack of and community-based LGBT social networks also exerted substantial influence on help seeking. Many LGBT people would strategically remain silent about their sexuality or gender status and rely on their family ties to access the range of secular and sacred resources that are most commonly available in medically underserved rural communities. Although persons from sexual and gender minority groups often experience positive outcomes as a result of help seeking, some LGBT people remain vulnerable to anti-LGBT sentiments that persist within secular and sacred sectors of rural health care systems.

Are barriers to mental health and substance abuse care still rising?

This study estimates unmet need and barriers to alcohol, drug, and mental health (ADM) services in 1997 to 1998 using data from a national household survey (n = 9,585). In 1997 to 1998, 10.9% of the population perceived a need for ADM services, with 15% obtaining no treatment and 11% experiencing delays or obtaining less care than needed. The rate of unmet need due to no treatment is similar to earlier studies, but the group experiencing delays/less care is almost as large. This finding emphasizes the importance of defining access to care more broadly by including timeliness and intensity of care. Economic barriers are highest for the uninsured, but also are high among the privately insured. Individuals with unmet need are significantly more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Those with no conventional mental health care rely on self-administered treatment, while those with delayed/insufficient conventional care use CAM providers and self-administered treatment.

Mental health issues for Asian Americans.

One of fastest-growing population groups in recent decades, Asian Americans represent a vastly diversified and rich mixture of cultures, languages, beliefs, and practices, many of which differ widely from those of European Americans. As immigrants, Asian Americans have experienced and continue to experience various emotional and behavioral problems. However, they tend to underuse existing services except those that are culturally appropriate and linguistically compatible. Misdiagnosis frequently occurs, and the existence of culture-bound syndromes points to a lack of precise correspondence between indigenous labels and established diagnostic categories. Due to Asian traditions of viewing the body and mind as unitary rather than dualistic, patients tend to focus more on physical discomforts than emotional symptoms, leading to an overrepresentation of somatic complaints. Traditional practices and healing methods are frequently used to alleviate distress both before and after patients and their family members approach the conventional mental health care system. Help seeking typically is a family venture. Asian patients respond well to highly structured therapeutic interventions such as those used in behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal models. When applying pharmacotherapy, clinicians should pay attention to Asians' unique responses to psychotropics, especially in regard to dosage requirements and side effects. Research in this area as well as on other important issues is in the early stage of development.

Against all odds: Revitalization of local self-help alternatives by longterm mental health consumers

The article presents a grounded theory case study of a consumer-run alternative services organization, operated by and for people labeled chronically mentally ill in Michigan. We analyze the organization's emergence and development as a process of revitalization through which participants mobilized to transform their private and public identities. Innovations, including self-disclosure rituals and advocacy strategies, were developed by the group's founder during a period of social dislocation following deinstitutionalization. Subsequently, through their advocacy efforts for and with other consumers, group members laid the foundation for a unique form of locally-based political activism, blending innovative self-advocacy strategies with a critique of conventional mental health care. Active participants' efforts have created a mental health consumer organization that members perceive as an empowering and sometimes rehabilitative alternative within Michigan's public mental health care system.