Help-seeking Activities Research Articles

Co-designing action-oriented mental health conversations between care providers and ageing Canadians in the community: a participatory mixed-methods study protocol

IntroductionThe mental health of ageing Canadians is a growing concern, particularly post-pandemic. Older adults face systemic ageism and mental health stigma as pervasive barriers to seeking needed mental health support,...

Enhancing help-seeking efficacy in a sustainable and adaptive digital environment

Abstract Background Help-seeking efficacy is directly related to Mental Health Literacy (MHL) as one of its four important components and has been successfully addressed in digital mental health interventions for youth. However, these interventions are often not sustainable and not sufficiently diversity-sensitive. The 3-year Erasmus+ project me_HeLi-D (mental health literacy and diversity) aims to develop a digital, adaptable, diversity-sensitive tool to promote mental health and MHL among youth (12-15 years). Methods The tool-development is based on two pillars: thorough literature reviews and the voices of young people. Through a participatory research process, the design and content of the modules are co-created with the target group. The tool is implemented in Moodle to ensure high accessibility and flexibility and to allow updates and monitoring by the IT-department, which guarantees sustainability beyond the project duration. A total of 27 mental health interventions were systematically reviewed for the module addressing help-seeking efficacy, and three of them reported effective improvement in help-seeking behavior. Among these, an app using character vignettes resulted in greater increases in well-being and help-seeking intentions in the intervention group. Results Based on these findings and feedback from the participatory activities, an activity promoting help-seeking behavior was developed for the tool using a narrative format. The help-seeking activity, its content, and its goals are presented. In addition, the digital implementation is discussed, addressing issues of adaptability and sustainability in relation to the deployment plan in Moodle. Conclusions The importance of a participatory, evidence-based approach and consideration of diversity-sensitivity and digital sustainability in the development of a digital mental health tool was emphasized.

When help-Seeking Backfires: An Integrative Model of Sub-optimal Help-Seeking

Although help-seeking is a prevalent phenomenon in the organizational context, researchers have paid less attention in this topic, in compare to help-giving (Bamberger, 2009). In addition, most studies have examined antecedents of help-seeking while assuming the positive impacts of help-seeking activities. However, recent findings suggest that help-seeking activities do not necessarily guarantee the positive implications on work outcomes; rather, their impact on work outcomes depends on other characteristics and inter-personal dynamics. To address this issue, in this article, we propose an integrative theoretical framework of help-seeking. Specifically, based on help-seeking dilemma and micro-processes of help-seeking literature, we argue that sub-optimal help-seeking activities, such as procrastination of help-seeking and help-seeking from the novice member, can emerge in organizational context. In addition, we propose antecedents and consequences of sub-optimal help-seeking processes. Finally, we provide solutions that prevent sub-optimal help-seeking processes and reduce negative impacts of sub-optimal help-seeking. Theoretical, practical implications and suggestion for empirical research are discussed.

Adolescent stress, help-seeking intentions, subjective achievement and life satisfaction in New Zealand: Tests of mediation, moderated mediation and moderation.

We present the results of a study examining adolescent help-seeking intentions (HSIs), stress, subjective school achievement and life satisfaction. Using a cross-sectional design with a sample of New Zealand adolescents (n=1601), we tested whether HSIs could mediate or moderate relations between stress and subjective achievement, and between stress and life satisfaction. We inspected these dynamics alongside different help sources (informal and formal) and domains where stress might be experienced (school and personal). Using mediation testing, findings suggest that informal HSIs have at least some influence on the relations between stress and well-being indicators, whereas formal HSIs did not. Conditional indirect effects for the mediation models (moderated mediation) revealed that gender and age did not moderate the relations between stress and informal HSIs, or between stress and well-being indicators with one exception: gender moderated the relation between personal stress and informal HSIs. In most models, tests of moderation lent support for a protective-reactive model in which HSIs reduce the adverse effects of stress on well-being indicators. Discussion focuses on modelling and promoting help-seeking activities across diverse support sources, and doing so earlier in life so that adolescents can benefit from well-honed coping strategies.

I’m not as bright as I used to be – pupils’ meaning-making of reduced academic performance after trauma

ABSTRACT Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with temporary, distinct cognitive impairment. This study explores how cognitive impaired academic performance is recognized and explained by young Norwegians who survived the Utøya massacre of July 22, 2011. Qualitative interviewing of 65 students (aged 16–29 years) was conducted 2.5 years after the traumatic event. A total of 25% (n = 16) respondents reported no or no distinct change; only 6% (n = 4) reported some degree of positive change. By contrast, 69% (n = 45) reported negative changes in academic performance, with impaired concentration and feelings of chaos. Previously effective study techniques became less effective or inadequate. Respondents worried about lasting impairment of academic functioning, but reported little or no discussion with teachers. From the characteristics of the changes reported, attribution style, the use of metaphors and narrative structuring, we identify differences in the meaning-making processes of these young people. Some were left with an understanding that negatively affected their help-seeking activity and reduced the willingness to accept adapted education post trauma.

With a grain of salt? Supervisor credibility and other factors influencing trainee decisions to seek in-consultation assistance: a focus group study of Australian general practice trainees

Background‘Ad hoc’ help-seeking by trainees from their supervisors during trainee consultations is important for patient safety, and trainee professional development. We explored trainee objectives and activities in seeking supervisor assistance, and trainee perceptions of the outcomes of this help-seeking (including the utility of supervisor responses).MethodsFocus groups with Australian general practice trainees were undertaken. All data was audio-recorded and transcribed, coded using in-vivo and descriptive codes, and analysed by the constant comparison of provisional interpretations and themes with the data. Findings are reported under the over-arching categories of help-seeking objectives, activities and outcomes.ResultsEarly in their general practice placements trainees needed information about practice facilities, and the “complex maze” of local patient resources and referral preferences: some clinical presentations were also unfamiliar, and many trainees were unaccustomed to making patient management decisions. Subsequent help-seeking was often characterised informally as “having a chat” or “getting a second opinion” so as not to “miss anything” when trainees were “not 100% sure”. Trainees emphasised the importance of being (and demonstrating that they were) clinically safe. Workflow constraints, and supervisory and doctor-patient relationships, had a powerful influence on trainee help-seeking activities. An etiquette for providing help in front of patients was described. Trainees assessed the credibility of supervisors based on their approach to risk and their clinical expertise in the relevant area. Several trainees reported reservations about their supervisor’s advice on occasions.ConclusionA trainee’s subsequent help-seeking is strongly influenced by how their supervisor responds when their help is sought. Trainees prefer to seek help from credible supervisors who respond promptly and maintain trainee ‘face’ in front of patients. Trainees learn through help-seeking to make their own clinical decisions but may remain uncertain about professional and societal expectations, and curious about how other general practitioners practise. Trainees value opportunities throughout their training to observe expert general practice.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a website about masculinity and suicide to prompt help-seeking.

A website was designed to form the core of a multimedia strategy surrounding the Man Up documentary - a three-part documentary that aimed to address the problem of male suicide in Australia. Together these formed a media-based, public health intervention that explored the link between masculinity and suicide and promoted help-seeking. This is of great importance given the demonstrated link between masculine norms, men's reduced help-seeking and suicidal thinking. This study assesses the website's effectiveness in facilitating help-seeking and fostering conversations about suicide, mental health and help-seeking. Help-seeking indicators included website clicks to helping organisations, downloads of health information from the website and request for help received via emails. Google Analytics data, emails to the Man Up team received through the website and open-ended responses to an online survey were analysed. The website reached 43140 users. Indictors of help-seeking activity on the website included 307 outbound clicks to helping organisations and 802 downloads of health information. Qualitative analysis of emails received and responses to the survey demonstrated that Man Up's messages resonated with viewers and provided further evidence of help-seeking. The findings demonstrate that the website provided an important opportunity for people to engage with Man Up and seek help. SO WHAT?: Media-based public health interventions offer enormous potential to provide suicide prevention interventions and promote help-seeking. The website evaluation findings provide insight into the ways in which websites can be used as part of a multimedia strategy to address the problem of male suicide.

The association of posttraumatic stress disorder risk with help-seeking behavior: A cross-sectional study of earthquake and tsunami survivors in Japan.

The Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 and subsequent tsunami affected the northeastern coast of Japan. We investigated the association between the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and help-seeking behaviors of survivors in a landlocked city in Japan’s Tohoku area at 1 year after this disaster. The participants were 902 residents of Ichinoseki City and 218 evacuees from coastal areas to the city. We used sociodemographic characteristics, the Trauma Screening Questionnaire with a score ≥6 defined as predicted PTSD, and the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. We examined the whole sample and the stratified samples between the Ichinoseki residents and the evacuees. Missing values were complemented using a multiple imputation method after a missing-value analysis. Data from the final sample of 1,101 respondents were analyzed using logistic regression and sensitivity analyses. Compared with the Ichinoseki residents, the evacuees were older, showed higher Trauma Screening Questionnaire scores, and had fewer house occupants. However, the prevalence of predicted PTSD was not different between the 2 groups. In the whole sample and among the Ichinoseki residents, predicted PTSD was associated with an active help-seeking behavior, possibly from mental health professionals. In the evacuees, predicted PTSD was not associated with any specific help-seeking behavior. Although survivors with predicted PTSD in the whole sample and among the Ichinoseki residents showed an active help-seeking behavior, the evacuees with predicted PTSD showed little active help-seeking behavior. Traumatized survivors’ help-seeking activity may also vary according to the type of disaster and/or evacuation situation.

Learning with video-based examples - Are you sure you do not need help?

This study investigated help-seeking activities in a computer-based environment teaching argumentative skills by videos of argumentative dialogues of teachers who discussed controversy issues in the context of a workshop. Learners, all of them students of educational sciences, solved learning tasks on the presented argumentative dialogues and reflected on their response certitude. Forty-three students voluntary took part in the study. Two experimental groups varied according to the type of task they solved. Group 1 got adjunct questions, so-called self-explanation prompts that elicited elaboration of the video content. Group 2 answered multiple-choice tasks that assessed the same knowledge. After each task, participants of both groups (a) had to judge the certainty of their response being correct (i.e., the marking of the multiple-choice task or the written self-explanations) and (b) were offered to use the help function on demand. Results revealed the relevance of learners' response certitude with respect to their help use. Low response certitude about the correctness of a task solution led to higher help use which was positively related to learning outcome. However, learners' response certitude was unrelated to the actual correctness of their task solution. Type of task had no influence on response certitude, help use or learning outcome.

How People With Serious Mental Illness Seek Help After Leaving Jail

In this study, I examined how people with serious mental illness defined and prioritized their service needs when released from jail and how these service priorities shaped the sequencing of help-seeking activities after their release. Data included ethnographic observations and interviews with the staff and clients of a mental health reentry program and responses to an open-ended questionnaire that was given to the program's clients (N = 115). Sixty-three percent of the clients identified housing and 35% identified financial assistance as one of their two most important service needs, whereas only 12% selected treatment services. These service priorities reflect a hierarchy in help-seeking activities postrelease in which clients' access to treatment services was predicated on their ability to first find sustainable economic and material support. I conclude that reentry programs need to have the resources required to meet both the basic and treatment needs of people with serious mental illness leaving jail.

Men managing cancer: a gender analysis

As researchers consider gendered patterns in men's prostate cancer experiences, little attention has been devoted to how men manage 'cancer', more generally. Drawing on the experiences of 30 Canadian men with a variety of cancer types, this article details how men engaged illness self-management and help-seeking activities with lay and professional support persons. Results indicate three broad responsive strategies: fortifying resources, maintaining the familiar, and getting through. In these pursuits, the participants drew on a variety of performances to respond to social contexts demanding that men embody masculine ideals including strength, control, and stoicism. Considering gendered dynamics in how men manage the challenges of cancer, this article broadens understandings about men's cancer experiences by highlighting the drivers orienting participants' responsive efforts and challenging assumptions of help-seeking as essentially problematic for men in Western society.

All in the Family: Help-Seeking by Significant Others of Problem Gamblers

Problem gambling can significantly affect the lives of concerned significant others (CSOs) of problem gamblers, especially family members, but little is known about their help-seeking activities and experiences. This paper explores help-seeking by CSOs of problem gamblers and their related motivators and barriers. A telephone interview was administered to 48 CSOs who called an Australian gambling helpline seeking assistance for themselves and/or a person with gambling problems. Key motivators for seeking help (through helplines, non-professional sources, and self-help measures) were concerns the gambling might become a major problem, negative emotions, problems maintaining normal daily activities, concerns for dependents’ welfare, and health concerns. Barriers included wanting to solve the problem on their own, and shame. Findings highlight the need to better equip CSOs to assist both the person with gambling problems towards treatment and recovery and to protect their own physical, emotional, social and financial wellbeing.

How do managers improve farm performance during the economic slowdown: Survey results from New York agribusinesses

This paper examines factors that affect agribusiness management behavior of a sample of dairy, equine, beef cattle, and hog farms in New York State to understand how they survive the ongoing economic hardship. Using a conceptual framework and a Heckman Selection model, this study analyzes the impact of managers’ perceived pressure from the unfavorable economy, their personal traits and their self-assessed managerial skills on farm adaptation strategies and their help-seeking activities to agribusiness assistance programs. The analysis of self-assessed management skills led to three distinct management styles, labeled as production experts, marketing experts, and finance experts. The results demonstrate that managers who held a leadership position in agricultural organizations are more likely to feel pressure. This pressure negatively affects management actions to adapt the farm to the adverse economy. Our results suggest that the New York agricultural policy planners should address this negative impact of the current economic difficulties on farming practices to effectively support the economic health of its agricultural industry. Key words: New York agribusiness, farm performance, economic slowdown, economy.

Stigma: A negative and a positive influence on help-seeking for adults with acquired hearing loss

There are stigmas associated with many chronic health conditions that emerge in adulthood. People who present manifestations of hearing loss are often perceived by others to be cognitively diminished, less able, and socially incompetent. In order to avoid being identified as a member of a stigmatized group, individuals with hearing loss may choose not to seek health services or fail to comply with recommended treatments. The purpose of this study was to better understand how stigma impacted upon the help-seeking activities of adults with an acquired hearing loss. Ten people who had hearing loss, and were members of peer-support groups participated in audio-recorded semi-structured interviews. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using thematic analyses. Analyses revealed that lasting decisions about hearing loss management were made following ‘critical junctures’, when the negative stress found in the respondent's social and physical environment far outweighed positive energy, or when the positive energy found in the respondent's environment far outweighed the negative stress. The time course development of these processes is described.SumarioExisten estigmas asociados con muchas condiciones crónicas de salud que aparecen en la edad adulta. La gente que presenta manifestaciones de pérdida auditiva a menudo son percibidas por los demás como disminuidos cognitivamente, menos capaces, y socialmente incompetentes. Para evitar ser identificado como un miembro de un grupo estigmatizado, los individuos con hipoacusia escogen no buscar ayuda en los servicios de salud o fallan en cumplir con los tratamientos recomendados. El propósito de este estudio fue entender mejor cómo el estigma impacta las actividades de búsqueda de ayuda de adultos con hipoacusias adquiridas. Diez personas con pérdida auditiva, que era miembros de grupos de apoyo a iguales, participaron de entrevistas semi-estructuradas, grabadas en audio. Se analizaron las transcripciones usando un análisis temático. Los análisis revelaron las decisiones duraderas sobre el manejo de la hipoacusia se realizaban luego de “encrucijadas críticas”, cuando la tensión negativa encontrada en el ambiente social y físico del participante sobrepasaba la energía positiva, o cuando la energía positiva que se hallaba en el ambiente del participante sobrepasaba la tensión negativa. Se describe el desarrollo en el tiempo de estos procesos.

DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN FORMAL SUPPORT STRUCTURES AND COLLABORATIVE PRAXIS IN THE FRONT-END OF INNOVATION.

The article discusses how the innovativeness of organizations is created in the collaborative praxis of organizational actors. It examines the praxis and its discrepancies between innovation management's formal support structures in the front end of innovation. Questions about how the canonical practices of innovation management fail to support the praxis, their decoupling from and their inhibition of the collaborative praxis of organizational actors are addressed. The limitations that formal structures have in relation to supporting help-giving, help-seeking, and reflective reframing activities are examined. The creation of barriers to innovation efforts caused by the use of traditional activity-stage models of innovation is also considered.

Ethnic Differences in Beliefs Regarding Alzheimer Disease Among Dementia Family Caregivers

The purpose of this study was to examine ethnic differences in female dementia family caregivers' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about Alzheimer disease (AD). Baseline data were collected from 215 female caregivers before their participation in various psychoeducational intervention programs. Caregivers were questioned about the epidemiology, etiology, and treatment of AD. Logistic regressions and one-way analysis of variance were conducted to assess ethnic differences. Hispanic and Chinese caregivers were more likely to believe that AD is a normal part of aging and that AD can be diagnosed by a blood test than the white group. These beliefs about AD may delay help-seeking activities for these patients and their family caregivers. Increased public education about AD is needed in these communities. Results are discussed in terms of barriers to accessing information about AD and ways to improve public informational outreach activities, so that the intended audiences are reached more effectively.

Barriers to Help-seeking for a Gambling Problem: The Experiences of Gamblers Who Have Sought Specialist Assistance and the Perceptions of Those Who Have Not

This paper presents barriers to help-seeking data as reported by users of a national gambling helpline (help-seekers, HS, N = 125) as well as data pertaining to perceived barriers to seeking help as reported by gamblers recruited from the general population (non-help-seekers, NHS, N = 104). All data were collected via a structured, multi-modal survey. When asked to identify actual or perceived barriers to seeking help, responses indicative of pride (78% of HS participants, 84% of NHS participants), shame (73% of HS participants, 84% of NHS participants) or denial (87% of NHS participants) were most frequently reported. These three factors were also most often identified as the real or perceived primary barrier to help-seeking (collectively accounting for 55% of HS, and 60% of NHS, responses to this question) and were the only barriers to be identified by more than 10% of either HS and NHS participants without prompting. It was of note, however, that participants in both groups identified multiple barriers to help-seeking (mean of 6.7 and 12.2, respectively) and that, when presented with a list of 21 possible barrier items, NHS participants endorsed 19 of the listed items significantly more often than their HS counterparts. The implications of these findings, with respect to promoting greater or earlier help-seeking activity amongst problem gamblers, are discussed.

Reasons for Seeking Help for a Gambling Problem: The Experiences of Gamblers Who Have Sought Specialist Assistance and the Perceptions of Those Who Have Not

This paper presents reasons for help-seeking data as reported by users of a national gambling helpline (help-seekers, HS, n = 125) as well as data pertaining to perceived reasons for seeking help as reported by gamblers recruited from the general population (non-help-seekers, NHS, n = 104). All data were collected via a structured, multi-modal survey. Participants in both groups considered help-seeking to be motivated by multiple factors (mean of 6.8 and 10.6 responses, respectively). Responses indicative of financial concern were most frequently reported by both HS and NHS participants (82 & 90%, respectively). Over a third of HS participants (35%) also identified financial concern as their primary reason for seeking help and 50% of NHS participants perceived financial concern to be the primary motivator for seeking help in a problem gambling context. Common types of secondary influence (other than financial concern) included psychological distress (HS & NHS participants), problem prevention (HS participants), rational thought (HS participants), physical health issues (HS participants), and relationship issues (NHS participants). The implications for promoting greater or earlier help-seeking activity amongst problem gamblers are discussed.

Issues Encountered in a Qualitative Secondary Analysis of Help-Seeking in the Prodrome to Psychosis

Primary data are rarely used explicitly as a source of data outside of the original research purpose for which they were collected. As a result, qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) has been described as an "invisible enterprise" for which there is a "notable silence" amongst the qualitative research community. In this paper, we report on the methodological implications of conducting a secondary analysis of qualitative data focusing on parents' narratives of help-seeking activities in the prodrome to psychosis. We review the literature on QSA, highlighting the main characteristics of the approach, and discuss issues and challenges encountered in conducting a secondary analysis. We conclude with some thoughts on the implications for conducting a QSA in children's mental health services and research.

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.